Letter: Americans must protect their roadless areas

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004 | 9:06 a.m.

In a world of rushed lives, it's often difficult to find solitude.

Unfortunately, as populations grow, more natural places for relaxation are destroyed. To counteract this, we can protect our public lands.

Upon starting college in New York, I was shocked by the limited public land access, something I've always taken for granted in Nevada. Now I realize we must conserve this land; one way to do so is through roadless areas.

Land development in roadless areas could irreparably damage habitats, destroy species, create pollution, contaminate our drinking water and increase spending on road building instead of conservation, trails, weed control and firefighting.

The Clinton administration set aside 60 million acres of roadless land, and the Bush administration recently repealed this rule, creating a stalemate on the issue. Now, apparently, it's back to the drawing board.

This delay may not be so negative. It gives policymakers a chance to reconsider conserving roadless areas and avoid making a huge mistake for the future of our nation's land.

It can be a progressive step in our nation's attitudes toward the environment, one which recognizes the need to use natural resources to maintain our way-of-life, but also recognizes and mitigates short-term and long-term impacts to our environment.

This is an opportunity to change how we make environmental policies to prevent future negative environmental impacts. This is a chance to start giving back to the environment by conserving one of America's most valuable natural resources.

LISA GILBERTSON Elko