An angry mob of motorized-vehicle users treated our employees, the men and women of the U.S. Forest Service, appallingly at the Darby hearing for the travel plan on the Bitterroot National Forest (Missoulian, Jan. 11). Eyewitness reports from the meeting have confirmed that several members of the motorized-user community included obscenities and personal attacks in their comments, to the approving applause, whistling and noisy praise by most of the rest of the crowd for over three hours.
Eyewitnesses also report that those speaking in favor of some restrictions on motorized travel on the forest were booed and heckled by the belligerent mob. This hostile atmosphere crossed the line when one man said, referring to comments by a person in favor of limiting access, “put a bullet in her head.” There is no record of anyone within the wide earshot of this remark expressing exception or outrage about this blatant threat. When local conservationist Gary Milner asked this man if that was indeed what he said, he confirmed it, and freely gave his name as well, apparently fearing no consequences. The threat and the man’s name were written down by Forest Service personnel and have since been turned over to law enforcement for investigation.
These tactics are unfortunately not exceptional in the debate over public lands issues in the Bitterroot in recent years, and foster an atmosphere in which some people go beyond words and feel confident that they will get away with physical aggression against those with whom they disagree. Two examples include an incident a few years ago in which a crowd of anti-environmentalists assaulted and threatened conservationist Larry Campbell in the Bitterroot National Forest supervisor’s office parking lot in broad daylight. In a more recent incident, hiker Bob Clark, while attempting to write down the license number of a motorcycle rider caught illegally riding in a restricted area, was assaulted and run down by that rider egged on by his companions.
We need to hold all people involved in the debate over the use of public forest lands to a minimal standard of respectful behavior at these hearings if the process is to work. We respectfully submit that this behavior is clearly coming from motorized users and others in the anti-environmental crowd. The Forest Service should recognize that, in this community, threats and violence have only come from this side and act accordingly. The contrast between this free-for-all hearing and the announcement two years ago by the Bitterroot National Forest of the Middle East Fork decision could not be more striking. In that instance, body-armored Federal Marshals escorted local conservationists out of the meeting for simply being there, despite no evidence or threat of violence by them or the organizations they represent. The Forest Service officials should not be blamed for the actions of the public, but we would request that they redouble their efforts to get this process under control, so that all members of the public are safe to exercise their right to speak freely on the proposed travel plan.
The Bitterroot Human Rights Alliance also calls on such groups as the Bitterroot Ridge Runners and the Ravalli County Off Road Users Association to do more than simply condemn such behavior after the fact and try to distance themselves from their supporters. It would help if these organizations would tone down their incendiary rhetoric about off road vehicle users being “locked out” of the National Forest. These tactics were clearly responsible for both the number of motorized users attending the Darby meeting and for the extremely hostile mood of the crowd. And most importantly, we call upon them to demonstrate some leadership at these events by participating respectfully. This would give some credibility to their repeated claims that this behavior is not characteristic of the group as a whole.
The most recent user statistics available from the BNF showed in 2003 that off-road enthusiasts comprise less than 3 percent of forest users. Though they are a small minority of National Forest users, their voices should be heard along with those of other users. Their claims of exclusion and disenfranchisement, however, appear to be grossly exaggerated. They would still have access to 2,487 miles of roads on the Bitterroot National Forest alone, even after the restrictions being currently proposed. The rights of an aggressively vocal minority should not trump the rights of other users, and this kind of behavior has no place in our community.
This column was signed by Sunny Cluff, Pam Erickson, Michael Helling, Char Jones, Bill LaCroix, Carol Miller, John Schneeberger and Bob Scott of the Bitterroot Human Rights Alliance.
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