Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Environmental protection almost overcome by goofy ideas

Friday, May 8, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.

BY A THREE-TO-TWO MARGIN 78,000 Sierra Club members killed the suggested policy to save our environment by restricting immigration. Although the club has more than 500,000 members the usual small voter turnout was repeated. Even at that, it's a better turnout than two years ago when less than 60,000 members voted on the issue to stop all logging on national forests. The result of that vote was 39,147 to 20,287 mail-in ballots in favor of closing the forests to logging. A clear demonstration how a small active group can set policy for those who don't take time to vote. Following the stop-all-logging vote, this column pointed out that the Republican-dominated Congress has gone to extremes in efforts to weaken environmental laws that protect our land, air, water and living species. These assaults have resulted in a political backlash that can be felt from the grass roots to the halls of Congress. This extremism must be a virus which has now invaded the bloodstreams of some Sierra Club members.

In 1996, Forest Service chief Jack Ward told us, "There is a need, I think, if you're an ecologist to look at what forest health means. It is a tool that we would use in manipulation of vegetation for a number of other reasons besides production of timber: forest health, wildlife habitat, fire prevention. Also, there are a considerable number of people in the United States, particularly in isolated, rural communities, that are somewhat dependent on the timber produced by the Forest Service for their livelihood."

Then two years later, after a period of fighting legitimate battles, the silly season again took control of the club with another shot of goofy pills. This time it produced the plan to reduce immigration to save our environment. Very simply, it was a racist wolf clothed in the warm and fuzzy cloak of protecting our quality of life. A nasty and simple solution for a complex problem. By defeating the plan, the Sierra Club probably kept its membership numbers from evaporating and the organization from being listed among endangered species.

I hope the urge for self-destruction will be satisfied and the extremists will hold off for another two years before trying to jump off of some steeper cliff. My personal secretary, when governor and prior to that time, the late Jean Hanna Clark, was a granddaughter of Sierra Club founder John Muir. She had the same love as Muir for the outdoors of Northern Nevada and California. No doubt the stories about her grandfather had an influence on me and helped us in our fight to protect Lake Tahoe.

Nevada Congressman John Ensign didn't add much substance to the debate last month when he got carried away addressing a group that operates in direct conflict with most reasonable conservation and environmental groups. They call themselves "Wise Use," but all of their policies stress far more use than wisdom. It was in this setting that Ensign got carried away with his rhetoric and labeled today's environmental leaders as socialists seeking to deny others of certain ownership rights. It might have sounded good in that surrounding but to me it sounded as goofy as the plan to limit immigration to protect our environment.

Upon hearing the intemperate remarks of the congressman, many of us were worried about the explosive response of environmentalists. Actually, the combined response was very mild with Frank Maxwell of the Nevada Wildlife Federation and Leah Griffith of the Students Conscious of Protecting the Environment writing, "By resorting to the 'red scare' rhetoric of the hard right, Ensign seeks to create a rift between local environmental leaders, community activists and private stockholders. Regrettably, this attack comes at a time when cooperation is crucial.

"The spirit of last summer's presidential summit at Lake Tahoe has enhanced the cooperation between environmentalists, private stakeholders and local and federal government. All agree on one thing: We need to work together to protect the wonders of the world."

This time the Sierra Club has been pulled back from the precipice of self-destruction and Ensign has made friends with the Wise Use people. Now's the time for the rest of us to continue our struggle to leave behind a clean and beautiful natural environment for future generations to enjoy.