Coastal voices: Nature groups help economy

I wish to commend Triplicate Editor Richard Wiens for his editorial, "Make the most of wildlands preservation" on Saturday. I was as discouraged as he was to read that three of our county supervisors refused to acknowledge and vote for a proclamation affirming the Sierra Club's North Chapter on its 50 years of conservation work throughout the region.

Is it going to take another 50 years for the short-sighted nay-sayers in our community to wake up to the real benefits that having large tracts of public land brings to our county? Del Norte has some of the most desirable coastal real estate in the entire state. More and more people are moving here just because it has some of the best natural amenities that can be found anywhere … undeveloped shorelines, pristine beaches, magnificent ancient redwood forests, clean flowing rivers, open coastal dunes, pure air, abundant wildlife.

This can be attributed in part, if not all, to conservation groups like the Sierra Club and Save the Redwoods, and visionaries such as John Muir and Ansel Adams who had the foresight to advocate for the conservation of special natural places and for the protection of the animal and plant species that inhabit them.

Without the relatively intact watershed of the Smith River and its tributaries, which are managed by the Smith River National Recreation Area and the U.S. Forest Service, we could not boast of having the only undammed river of its size in the state and second-cleanest river in the nation. Thankfully, because of public stewardship, we have one of the best world-class steelhead and salmon fisheries left in California, as well as streams that provide the last refuges in the state for chinook salmon and the threatened coho salmon.

Many local, regional, and national conservation groups worked diligently for the classification of the Smith River NRA. And the Sierra Club was indeed instrumental in the establishment of Redwood National Park, which just celebrated its 40th anniversary. Every year since, 100,000 to 500,000 tourists have come from around the globe to visit our small rural county. They've learned of its existence solely because of the great fishing opportunities here and because of the magnificent redwood groves which surround us.

These visitors and fishermen may stay several nights in our motels, campgrounds, or private RV parks. They eat in our local restaurants or shop in our stores. In the 40 years since the establishment of Redwood National Park, a conservative calculation of 10-15 million tourists have visited us. And if each person only spent one dollar, that translates to millions of dollars spent in our community. How can this benefit be denied and ignored by Supervisor Sullivan as "having a detrimental effect on Del Norte County's economy"?

But it is not only the economic benefit of tourism that is being ignored. The U.S. Forest Service and Redwood National & State Parks hire and employ hundreds of people who either already live here or move here to work. They own or rent homes here. They pay property and sales tax. Their children go to our schools. They join our churches. And their spouses find work here or donate their time as volunteers here. Many end up staying on in Del Norte County for their entire careers and then retire here.

These people contribute not only to Del Norte's economic base, they are as much a part of the fabric of its community as every other citizen that lives here.

For some of our elected officials and others to continually denounce the Forest Service, Redwood Parks, and Fish & Game in public meetings because these agencies are the designated stewards of our public lands, shows short-sightedness, ignorance, and a remarkable lack of appreciation. Their critical statements also insult the thousands of individuals past and present whose values and hard work contribute to making this county such a precious place to live.

In the process they are also denying and discounting all of us who live here or who moved here to enjoy and value the benefits derived from the public wildlands and waters that are managed and protected by these same agencies. Perhaps if they are unable to applaud and promote the benefits that our public lands bring to our community, they should consider visiting one of many other typical California coastal towns with unchecked development. Towns with little open space, roads choked with traffic, crowded beaches, and polluted waterways. I just can't believe this is really the future they wish for Del Norte County.