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The withdrawal of vast amounts of land into these systems make it vital ttiat we manage 

 our National Forests in ways that will maximixe the production of goods, the economic 

 stability of communities, and the motorized recreational needs of our citizens. For one 

 hundred years, the Forest Service has been able to manage our National Forests to meet 

 these needs while still ensining a healthy and perpetual forest I do not believe that we 

 should change the direction of that management 



2. Wilderness Expansion 



In my opinion, the Wilderness system has grown much beyond the expectations of even its 

 own creators. Far from preserving 'pristine' areas, the Wilderness system has become a 

 land grab' which is now being extended to areas that have been logged, mined, grazed, and 

 roaded. The local Sierra Club has proposed that fifty-seven thousand (57,000) of such 

 acres of the Black Hills National Forest be added to the ten thousand (10,000) acres of 

 legal Wilderness now present. In addition, they request that seventy-four thousand (74,000) 

 acres of grasslands and badlands be converted to legal Wilderness. 



I believe that legal Wilderness poses a threat to itself and to surrounding public and private 

 lands. These lands are by law left to natural processes, and nature tends to renew forests 

 through catastrophic methods such as wildfires and infestations. These processes do not 

 recognize property lines. While these natural processes accomplish the rejuvenation of 

 forest stands, regrowth takes place at a much slower rate than the regrowth after logging. 

 The natural processes are more destructive and less selective than logging, they destroy our 

 precious resource of trees, and they destroy animal habitat. Althou^ the Sierra Club will 

 contend that infestations and wildfires in Wilderness areas may be fought by technological 

 and/or mechanical means if necessary to protect surrounding lands, in reality these methods 

 are very rarely used unless human life is threatened. 



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