Sierra Plan

Re your support of a protective plan for the Sierra Nevada’s national forests (editorial, May 15): As an ex-Forest Service firefighter and an environmental leader in the central region of the range, I have watched for more than 30 years as clear cuts, road-building and the loss of wild places have damaged the forests. As public pressure has built in opposition to the Forest Service’s damaging practices, the agency has shifted toward better management. Yet any long-term plan for the Sierra Nevada’s forests needs to do more than creep away from ecologically harmful practices; the agency needs to produce a science-based plan that steers a dramatic new direction--a direction that quickly rebuilds the public’s trust in the Forest Service’s ability to manage these public lands. Your editorial wisely nudges the agency in that new direction.

JOHN BUCKLEY, Dir., Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center, Twain Harte