Hi Bob and Eric,

Deb and I just wnated to thank you both for the field trip. We enjoyed
spending the day with you folks and hope that a more positive relationship
can be drawn from this experience.

Deb and I have talked about the potential for working in a more cooperative
manner with you guys on future projects and feel there is some room for us
to do so. However, we also want to be clear that some of our differences
stem from a fundamentally different attitude and perspective toward our
forest lands. Deb and I work for organizations which believe very strongly
that there are viable alternatives for most wood products from public lands
and that these alternatives should be pursued wherever possible.

Moreover, our organizations come to these issues by viewing the present
logging of public lands within a broad and historical context. At present,
our Nation has retained about 4% of its native forests and this figure is
diminishing rapidly. In a time when the overwhelming scientific evidence
supports protecting these and other lands from commerical logging ventures,
we cannot be expected to support timber sales in a general sense. Based
upon this information, our organizations are heavily biased against logging
and should be expected to view any logging proposal with a very critical
eye.

Your efforts to build a positive working relationship are very much
appreciated and we appreciate the steps you have taken to reduce adverse
impacts from your projects. Notwithstanding our differences, we do look
forward to working with you in the future. Thanks again.


Mike

_____________________________
Mike Wood (mwood@wildrockies.org)
Alliance for the Wild Rockies
Box 8731
Missoula, MT 59807
(406) 542-0050