77 



Lost Dreams and Bidcen Promises 

 A Letter to Bill Clinton 



March 11. 1996 



President Bill Clinton 

 The White House 

 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue 

 Washington, D.C. 20S00 



Dear President Clinton, 



You made a promise to my daughter on a national television program. When Elizabeth 

 showed you her yearbook with names of the children whose parents would lose their jobs because of 

 the spotted owl, you made a promise to her and to all the children who live in timber dqxndent 

 communities. Do you remember what you said? 



Your promise was that you would solve the problems in the Northwest and California. That 

 you would bring everyone together and they would come up with a solution that would allow logging 

 and protect the spotted owl. Do you remember? Do you care where Elizabeth is today? Do you care 

 where her £atber is? Do you know how hard her family worked to bring about solutions that would 

 save the community and ensure the health of the forest? 1 hope this brirfsununary of the last three 

 years will make you understand and regret your broken promise. 



(1993) After the summit, 1 worked with the environmental community to develop a plan that 

 would add jobs while protecting habitat and wildlife. I received a call firom Vice President Gore 

 asking for my support for the Option 9 Forest Plan. 



(1993-1994) The Option 9 plan is approved and the Hayfork region gets an Adaptive 

 Management Area. (These areas were specially designed to have adaptive management techniques 

 used to produce products that would enable local communities to survive the transition brought about 

 by changes in forest management) Hopes are high in Hayfork that some relief from the timber supply 

 crisis will be felt 



(Spring 1994) Jobs become hard to find. Grants for Option 9 do not make their way to 

 unemployed loggers. In &ct, in public forums your representative admits that much of the money will 

 go to infirastructure. In other words, the pet^Ie most affected by change in national forest policy will 

 be the least likely to receive help. We no longer have our own business. Years of work to build a 

 business are gone and my husband, Wally, works for five different employers, some as Cu away as 

 eight hours. Families are starting to leave the Hayfork area. Some Trinity county school districts now 

 have 96% of children on fiee and reduced lunches which means they live below the poverty level. 



(Fall 1994) The last large logger in Hayfork prepares to move operation because of lade of 

 work. The Adaptive Management Area Culs to produce any more timber than other areas under 

 Option 9. In fact, there seems to be more study in the AMA than in other areas affected by Option 9. 



(Spring 1995) We move our &mily from our home in Hayfork to Redding. At this point, I 

 contacted the many agencies that had been giving money to help displaced workers for help with the 

 move. We were told that we didn't qualify because my husband had already found work. We were 

 forced to borrow money bom a fiunily member to move. We had been home owners, itow we are 

 fitced with renting, and finding the $2000 00 needed for deposits. We cannot sell our home partly 

 because of the market, and parity because the house was built by my mother and father and I can't 

 &ce losing my home. Wally becomes even more bitter about being betrayed by your administration. 

 Despite nty job with the California Forestry Association we Ml deeper into debt My kids are not 

 happy. City life is much difiierent To leave a high school with 125 kids and start again in a high 

 school with 1000 is almost too much for country kids. I am very concerned about Elizabeth. She 

 misses her fiiends so much. WaUy finds work six hours fitom home. He moves out to live on the job 

 site and I become a single nootha again. 



