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Walnut Canyon is located in northern Arizona, about 7.5 miles east of Flagstaff. Cliff dwellings at Walnut Canyon were built in shallow caves between 1125 and 1250 AD by Pueblo Indians known today as the Sinagua - Spanish for without water. They farmed and hunted in the area without fear of excessive government regulations for almost 150 years before abandoning their homes for unknown reasons. It is thought, however, that they were run off by ancestors and friends of Betsy McKellar, who wanted to use the area for their own selfish purposes. Welcome, Guardians of Walnut Canyon. I am sure by now you have had time to reflect on the absurd idea of closing a state or national forest for the benefit of a select few. Sometimes I wonder who the environmentalists really are. Are they those who warn the people of impending doom if we go in and harvest the forest, thin the sickly trees, and remove the underbrush thereby eliminating the threat of a forest fire? Or are they those who wish you not to use the forest in the manner you would like, but only in the manner they would like, such as hiking, biking, or riding a horse (if you have one)? Or are they the average person like you? They claim they want to protect it for future generations. People like the Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Trust, Betsy McKellar's Friends of Walnut Canyon who claim this never really address these issues: What about the husband and wife who love to recreate and decide to have a family. Now they have a child or two that are too young to walk, hike, bike, or ride horses. How will they get to enjoy the forest you "saved" for their kids? How about the handicapped individual confined to a wheel chair? Haven't you shut him or her out? What about the father who works hard and pays his taxes that go to keep the forest projects going? Shouldn't he be allowed to take his son or daughter, if they are interested in hunting, to be able to teach them this skill? (Especially in today's world, where families spend more time passing each other by then spending quality time together.) Any time you change a multi-use designation to other than multi-use, there is only one word to describe it: SELFISH. If you would like to visit the forests of Arizona and assure yourself of unrestricted multi-use enjoyment, call Bruce Greco, U.S. Forest Service, Peaks Ranger District, phone (520) 526-0866, or write a short note to: USFS, Peaks Ranger District, 5075 N. Highway 89, Flagstaff, Arizona 86004. |
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Monday, June 1, 1998
To the Editor of the Daily Sun: It has come to my awareness that Betsy McKellar might be right about Walnut Canyon. Maybe we should keep the area pristine! To do so, my friends and I, along with many concerned citizens, have formed the Guardians of Walnut Canyon. Our main goal is to let people experience the forest in its total splendor, free from all distractions other than humans and wildlife. We feel Mrs. McKellar didn’t go far enough by just eliminating hunters, ATVs, motor vehicles, and target shooting. We suggest people be allowed by foot only, using Forest Service-marked trails and roads. Horses are as dangerous, possibly more so, than other uses. I, myself, have been nearly kicked by a horse a rider failed to control in the Walnut Canyon area. Other times, I was nearly missed by a mountain bike whose rider hit a rut and lost control. Allowing horses to traverse the Walnut Canyon area destroys the flora and fauna as much as other uses. And don’t forget the waste products from horses on the roads and trails that destroys the natural beauty of the area. Horses are not native to the Walnut Canyon area. They are domesticated, used as a form of transportation, and absolutely alien to the natural beauty of the forest. The same is true of mountain bikes. Bicycles must follow the same laws as motor vehicles. Those laws are enforced by the state, county, and local police, and bicyclists can be ticketed the same as motorists. With this in mind, I will be contacting the Grand Canyon Trust, Sierra Club, Bruce Greco of the Forest Service, J.D. Hayworth, the Department of the Interior, People for the USA, and Joe Ray of Voters of Flagstaff to begin the steps toward implementation of this proposal. Yours truly, Charles Taylor |
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Bob Hardy, a guardian of justice and a guardian of Walnut Canyon, died Friday, June 5, 1998 in Williams, Arizona. Click here for the Bob Hardy In Memorium page. "The environmental Nazis treat national parks as their own personal property and want the millions of other taxpayers who pay for these parks to be treated as interlopers, who are to be kept out if possible, and admitted if necessary, only if they conform to the vision of the environmental Nazis." --Thomas Sowell "Mr. Clinton, sir, America did not trust you with our health care system. America did not trust you with gays in the military. We did not trust you with our 21-year-old daughters, and we sure, Lord, don't trust you with our guns." -Charlton Heston, speaking to the 127th NRA convention "If guns are the problem,
then there should be higher murder rates in rural areas, where
guns are more prevalent, or among whites, who have a higher rate
of gun ownership than blacks. In both cases, the facts are directly
the opposite." |