Environmental Activism, Massive Wildfires,

and now The GORP ACT! Had Enough Yet??

by Tammy Jolley



As we watch the fires raging across our state, I can’t help but wonder if the “Environmental Activists” are proud of the success of their cause. Isn’t the point of their activism to protect and defend the environment against the supposed harm done by ranchers, loggers, campers, hunters, miners and the like? Isn’t the goal to make sure that the resources are protected and cherished? I think that we all can see the truth, we just need to have the courage to admit it. This cause is anything but protection of our forests and resources. It is about the billions of dollars going into the pockets of the elite who don’t have to live with the damage that their policies cause.

Over the last several years, as one bill after another blocks access to management and use of our natural resources, insect devastated forests have led to fires that have raged across our once beautiful state. When any type of vegetation is overpopulated it becomes stressed and susceptible to disease and insects. One just has to drive over any mountain road to see that the beetle-kill trees are a massive wildfire waiting to happen. The lack of timber manage-ment due to the climate lobby’s war on timber harvesting, has led to unhealthy forests, leaving the forest floor littered with deadfall timber that fuels the massive blazes.

Now there is another new bill being quietly put together that will again do nothing but neglect these once thriving forests, and set us up for even more devastation in the years ahead. It is called The GORP Act (Gunnison Outdoor Resources Protection Act) I would bet that the majority of you reading this have never heard of it. Many of your county commissioners sold you out by supporting this bill for a few perks. This bill will impact 730,000 acres with the allure of benefitting the people of this state.

According to page 17 of THE GORP Act, the “Purpose of the Wildlife Conservation Areas are-(1) to conserve, protect, enhance, and restore for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the wildlife and wildlife habitat of the Wildlife Conservation Areas, and (2) to conserve, protect, and enhance for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations the natural, scenic, scientific, cultural, watershed, and recreational resources of the Wildlife Conservation Areas.

The GORP Act, page 44 states in (g) Vegetation Management (1) IN GENERAL-No project shall be carried out in a covered area for the purpose of harvesting commercial timber. The sponsors of this bill met with the owner of the only large lumber mill still active in this area a little over a year ago, and that mill is now in the process of closing. I will let you make up your mind on what likely transpired in those meetings! This mill closure will cause the loss of hundreds of jobs and decimate an entire industry that is our only line of defense against these fires.

Call the sponsors of this bill, and the sponsors of others like it currently in the works, and tell them that we are not interested. These bills that lock up our land and prohibit management, are what has caused this disaster that we are now dealing with. If we do not manage our for-ests, they will become diseased, die, and burn. I don’t think that anyone with a shred of common sense, can look at what is currently happening in our state, due to the exact types of policies in The GORP Act, and argue that this rosy picture painted in the bill is actually the outcome.

How are we tolerating our brave firefighters being burned alive because of the purposeful and intentional mismanagement of our forests. Their families and loved ones don’t see your “Environmental Activism” as compassion and preservation! How are we tolerating tens, if not hundreds of thousands of animals burning alive, or the “lucky” ones who aren’t burned alive, that are suffering irreparable harm from smoke inhalation, and being driven from their habitat to fight for survival.

How many more will starve to death this winter because of a lack of feed. How are we tolerating billions of dollars worth of property and homes destroyed. Families are displaced and losing everything they have worked their entire lives to build. True environmental stewardship promotes forest management. This includes grazing and logging. Both are tools that are used to make sure that there is proper ground care and tree spacing, reducing the risk of ground fires and massive wildfire spread. If you still believe that not taking care of our forests is the proper way of preserving our forests and maintaining them for wildlife habitat, scenic enjoyment etc, for this and future generations, you need to meet with the families of our lost firefighters, and those who have lost everything.

Drive through the charred areas and think of how many burned animals lie there. Think of the overwhelming loss of our innocent wildlife, and the loss of their entire habitat for miles and miles. Take a drive through almost any of Colorado’s forests and look at the destruction and devastation this “Protect the Environment” cause has achieved. Is it “conserved, protected, enhanced, and restored for the benefit and enjoyment of present and future generations and the wildlife and wildlife habitat of the Wildlife Conservation Areas” as the bill above would have you believe? Absolutely the opposite. Just as with any garden, it must be properly maintained and managed or it will be unhealthy and eventually die due to lack of care. Instead of spending billions on fighting the fires, and rebuilding homes, we should be managing our forests and making them places that are healthy and beautiful areas for all of us to enjoy.

Fire is a natural and sometimes necessary part of life, but making it a yearly inevitability due to our purposeful negligence is not. If the dead heroes, the smoke filled air, and the horrific amount of wildlife that have burned alive doesn’t help this reality to sink in, move to the desert and let those of us with a heart take over!