Reflection on a stranger’s remark

Editor:

Last October 18th, I participated with over 800 other local people in the second “No Kings” demonstration on the Portage Bridge. I carried a sign that said, among other things, “No Dictators”. As I was walking back across the bridge, a young man walking in the other direction said to me as he passed – “A dictator would kill you!” – I didn’t respond and kept walking.

I’m not sure what he intended by the statement, may be just to “own me” or that no simple sign would provide protection from a dictator. I kept turning over the statement in my head and eventually reached the conclusion that it was precisely why I was there making the point to others that this was possible.

Weeks passed and then earlier this year in Minneapolis, two U.S. citizens were killed by ICE agents with no investigation or consequences. The statement directed to me on the bridge had come true for two citizens simply exercising their constitutional rights.

Saturday, March 28 is the next “No Kings” peaceful protest in Houghton. The right to peacefully assemble to petition the government is in the U.S. Constitution, but only means something if you actually assemble. I will be there expressing my opinion. Driving by and honking your horn is great, but standing out there for an hour is priceless.

K Steven Johnson

Calumet

Massive national forest project needs a closer look

Editor:

I’m writing to express my concerns about the Silver Branch Vegetation Management Project being proposed for the eastern Ottawa National Forest. This massive project would encompass nearly 128,000 acres, or 12.8% of the entire Ottawa. It would clear-cut 25,000 acres and select-cut another 70,000 acres, including a proposed 2000-acre addition to the Sturgeon River Gorge Wilderness that has broad support from UP residents and beyond. The Environmental Assessment (EA) for this project has several major problems that must be addressed before being implemented.

The Ottawa’s Forest Plan requires that the Responsible Official evaluate conditions on the ground, and designate lands as “suited” or “not suited” for timber production. Federal regulations state that “No timber harvest for the purposes of timber production may occur on lands not suited for timber production.” Yet the Silver Branch project proposes to cut 30,000 acres designated as not suited for timber production.

The draft EA proposes to log 2,009 acres of old-growth forest. This contradicts the Forest Plan, which states that commercial harvest should not be conducted in classified old growth stands.

The Forest Plan designates 256,000 acres as a “Remote Habitat Area” (RHA) for sensitive or rare species including American marten, northern goshawk, and red-shouldered hawk. Road density within the RHA is not supposed to exceed 1 mile of road per square mile of land. Yet even though the proposed project includes more than 50,000 acres of remote habitat, the draft EA fails to even mention the RHA.

Finally, the EA presents only two alternatives for this project – a “No Action” alternative and an “Action” alternative, even though the National Environmental Policy Act requires a “reasonable range” of alternatives.

The size and duration of this project require completion of an Environmental Impact Statement, so that the impacts of this project can be fully evaluated.

Steven Garske

Marenisco, MI