The U.S. Forest Service has an educated and good group of rangers and managers working for the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. We have been volunteering our time and energy to help the forest managers and the Mount St. Helens Institute for the last decade, hoping to keep the forest open for all recreation.
After spending countless hours at meetings and doing tasks for the Forest Service, it has come to our concern that the Gifford Pinchot Task Force has done more harm than good. They always want to close down roads, lock up areas, and if they don’t get what they want, they file a lawsuit. This makes the Forest Service use the money allotted for managing the forest to fight lawsuits. In our opinion, they are taking advantage of the Forest Service’s small budget and our economic times. Let’s let the people we hired to manage the forest manage it.
If you want to volunteer your time or money, look up the Mount St. Helens Institute online (http://mshinstitute.org). Along with Gifford Pinchot Forest, it has been working to keep recreation and the forest open. Helping a task force may not be helping the forest.
Mike and Brenda Hayden
Ariel