Ah, Wilderness”Brave New Forest” (by John McKinney,...

Ah, Wilderness

“Brave New Forest” (by John McKinney, Oct. 19) performed an invaluable service by exposing the new thinking in the U.S. Forest Service hierarchy, which looks, not surprisingly, like the old thinking of vested interests. Timber and mining companies and off-road vehicle people have long cast an avaricious eye toward wilderness areas. Now it would appear they have a willing ally in a Forest Service that no longer sees its charge as a protected and pristine wilderness but as a pie to be divided among many different interests.

The newspeak practiced by the Forest Service administration is deliberate. This non-human, obfuscating language is the first step in wresting our legacy of the wilderness away from us. When trees are referred to as “timber stands” and creeks as “streamside management zones” can the bulldozers be far behind?

Al Kishbaugh Los Angeles