Letters to the editor 2/16/23

We welcome letters. Please include your full name, address and telephone number. We edit all letters. Send them to editor@illinoistimes.com.

—-

KEEP SHAWNEE AS IT IS

This letter is in opposition of a proposal to eliminate our Shawnee National Forest so to replace it with a National Park and climate preserve (no such thing).  

Starting when they first arrived in southernmost Illinois in the late 1600s, settlers cut and cleared trees for use and to sell. Over time, the area was left denuded and the soil was eroded. Our Shawnee National Forest was designated in August 1933 to repair this damage and rebuild the area. The Civilian Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration and other Depression-era work programs worked to reforest southernmost Illinois. Assisted and managed by the U.S. Forest Service employees, nearly 60,000 acres of land has been reforested.

Since 1933, our beloved Shawnee National Forest has grown to 289,000 acres and is visited by up to 1 million forest lovers annually. Had it not been for its designation as a National Forest, our Shawnee wouldn’t exist. The Shawnee National Forest is a monument to what we can do when we try, when we care and when we actually work hands-on. Like a monument it was built, and like a monument, it needs continued attention, maintenance and management.  

If you are concerned about reports of logging in the Shawnee, those areas are being misrepresented. Visit Google maps to see sites where trees are being selectively removed so sunlight can get through the canopy to saplings on the forest floor.  Be sure to zoom out to see how small those areas are.

Efforts are underway to designate Cahokia Mounds a unit of the National Park System. In 2016, Cahokia Mounds met all criteria. Southern Illinois might soon have that National Park.

Rhonda Rothrock
Pomona (adjoining neighbor to the Shawnee National Forest Fairview Trail)

—-

MAKE SHAWNEE A NATIONAL PARK

Thanks for featuring the Shawnee National Park in a recent issue (“Shawnee National Park?” Feb. 2). A few important facts were missing, however, regarding the opposition’s expressed rationale for objecting to the proposal.

First of all, the USDA Forest Service had provided only a few hundred acres of logging per year in the recent past, but the agency representative quoted in the article failed to mention that those figures are about to change, drastically. While in different stages of implementation, current FS projects already underway involve industrial logging on more than 12,000 acres of the Shawnee. Plus, the chief of the Forest Service declared that more than 100,000 acres of the forest are now classified to be categorically excluded from environmental reviews so that the FS can more efficiently log the areas under the guise of “forest health.”

Claiming that the National Park Service takes a “hands-off” approach to protecting or managing ecosystems and controlling invasives is not just absurd on its face, it is reckless and disingenuous. The NPS not only details its commitment to “maintain, restore, and protect the inherent integrity of the natural resources, processes, systems, and values,” in its management policies, it has a Heartland Invasive Plant Management Plan that includes tackling the problem in the neighboring states of Missouri, Kentucky and Indiana.

Our state is excluded from the NPS Plan because Illinois currently has no National Park. Our nation longs to establish its first climate preserve and Illinois deserves to have a national park. The Shawnee, with its carbon-capturing mature forests, unmatched biodiversity, impressive scenery and unique history, is the perfect candidate.

John B. Wallace, retired public land manager and environmental educator

—-

WYNDHAM DEBT

I am taking this opportunity to clarify a letter to the editor in last week’s issue titled, “Not Discussed” (Feb. 2). The letter was from Ald. Ralph Hanauer pertaining to the Wyndham City Centre’s outstanding utility bill. 

The issue was discussed with the City Council during an executive session on Nov. 2, 2021.  On Feb. 21, the City Council will vote on ordinance #2023-050, which will authorize the release of the audio from the executive session.  I hope the City Council will approve this ordinance so the public can hear the discussion. 

To also clarify, the Wyndham paid 100% of the outstanding electric and water usage portion of the bill. 

Jim Langfelder
Mayor, city of Springfield

This article appears in Wedding.