Roadless doesn't mean off-limits

Dear Editor,

I was pleased to find Dennis Webb's cover story about roadless areas in the Nov. 13, 2005, issue of the Post Independent, since the future of the 640,000 roadless acres in the White River National Forest will be decided on in 2006.

I just want to reiterate that "roadless" doesn't mean off-limits. You can hunt, hike, bike, climb, swim, fish, ride horses, and participate in almost every recreational activity you can think of in roadless areas.

"Roadless" designation does, however, make areas off-limits to new road building, mineral extraction, and extensive forest development. If you've been up to places like Hanging Lake, Deep Creek, Red Table Mountain, and the Flat Tops in the WRNF, you know that it is a good thing.

How exciting that we have three local residents serving on the task force! We have a unique opportunity for our voices be heard about why roadless areas in the WRNF should remain protected.

I attended the first task force meeting in Delta. So many people were there with different interests that it was impossible to get through all the comments, let alone find a parking spot. It is time to start organizing for the White River meeting, so that our message is clear: we want to protect the White River's irreplaceable roadless areas.

The Colorado Mountain Club and the Wilderness Workshop are holding a Citizen's Roadless Campaign Kickoff at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec.1, at Carbondale Town Hall. Open to the public, this strategy session marks the beginning of an important effort to impact the Roadless Task Force's upcoming decision.

Rebecca Van Damm

Carbondale

Don't leave your child in the car

Dear Editor,

This letter is for the woman who left her small child sleeping in a car while she was grocery shopping. It was Tuesday afternoon around 3 p.m. in New Castle. I had stopped at City Market and came out of the store, and saw a little girl 3 or 4 years old, sleeping in the back seat of a car, no adult present.

I was about to go home, go about my business, and realized I just couldn't ignore this. What if I drove off and something did happen to that child?

So I got on my cell and called the store and let them know a little girl was sleeping in a car with no adult present. I sat for a few minutes and a store manager came out, and just then a woman got to the car. I tried talking to her, but she got in the car, smiling and laughing, and drove away.

The store manager came over to me and I pointed at her, as she was driving off, and said, "That's her, the one who left her child in the car," and the woman just gave us a dirty look. I know she heard me, her window was unrolled.

Please, if your child is sleeping, pick them up and take them with you. A car in a public parking lot is not a safe place for an unattended child. It is also against the law.

Patty DePhillips

New Castle