Some enviros (and some who are quite the opposite, such as Rep. Fred Girod (R-Slayton)) like the idea of turning Oregon's Silver Falls State Park into a National Park. I don't.

A friend and fellow Oregonian who happens to be a NPS retiree, shared with me his opinion. He said:

"Trying to turn Silver Falls over to the feds is one of the three stupidest ideas Oregon ever came up with. 1. lower gas taxes and take the money away from state parks and OSP. 2. The Kick yourself in the ass tax rebate 3. trying to turn silver falls over. 4 would have been 1. with measure 37, but we shot that in the ass, only wounding it, but it's a start."

Pasted below is a letter to the editor by someone intimately familiar with this particular park. She begins:

"I think Rep. Girod is really barking up the wrong tree! If he had more facts regarding the park itself, he would not be trying to do this."

I hope those who would transfer Silver Falls, or would consider transferring other public lands, to the NPS will carefully read the LTE which appears below. The author doesn't hit all the bases, but she makes a good start.

Scott 

---- begin quoted ---

Park idea could mean less funding

This is in response to the article in the Jan. 13 issue regarding turning Silver Falls State Park into a national park.

I think Rep. Girod is really barking up the wrong tree! If he had more facts regarding the park itself, he would not be trying to do this.

I am a volunteer and a member of Friends of Silver Falls State Park. I have a good understanding of the park and the people who visit. There are several things that should be considered before trying to make Silver Falls into a national park.

. The park already exceeds Crater Lake by 500,000 visitors.

. The park does not generate as much income as Crater Lake because it does not have a lodge that has overnight accommodations or a restaurant that serves expensive meals. The day use fees are smaller than the national park fees. As of yet, it does not have as large a gift store. It does not generate revenue from the sale of license plates.

. I am a member of the National Parks Association, and know that the national park system is broke! There is not enough money to maintain the parks that are already in the system. Repairs are backlogged as many as 15 years.

. Republicans have been trying to privatize and cut funding to the national parks as much as possible. It is possible to visit the national parks for a 2 or 3-day stay and never see a ranger. As much work as possible is done by private concessionaires, including the evening campfire talks.

. Become familiar with the Master Plan for Silver Falls State Park that Oregon Parks and Recreation has done. All the important features of a national park are going to be done by the state.

. At this moment, the state has more money available to do good work at the park than if it was in the broken national park system.

. Local business gets plenty of money from the visitors now coming to the park and that number is increasing yearly. The small towns in the area cannot absorb a large, immediate increase in visitors, though I am not sure that national park status would bring them.

. National monument status would mean even less funding than national park status.

Rep. Girod needs to do more research before he pushes on with this. In reality, I don't think his proposal will go anywhere at the national level. The Republicans will not want to spend the money since they are trying to reduce funding for the parks. The Democrats have other places they would rather spend the money. And our current president is not doing anything positive for much of anything.

Louise M. Nelson, Aumsville

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