To all Southern Four Wheel Drive Members and Supporters:
Please read the summary from Paul Turcke concerning the Upper Tellico
issue and Rescue Tellico effort. Paul is the attorney for the Blue
Ribbon Coalition helping representing us in this issue. I believe Paul
has addressed areas of concern that have been expressed and lays it on
the line that it is a tough battle but one that has to be fought.
Thanks again for hanging in there and supporting this effort. We are
working to make the best decisions possible and do the right things as
we move forward.
Gary Parsons
President
Southern Four Wheel Drive Association
Hello All- I have reviewed these threads, and the emails in reply
posted before now (9:28 EDT 10/27). I will try to summarize.
First, I want to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the postings. I
expected mostly complaining and ignorant comments, but can say I found a
kernel of wisdom in almost every post. That is not to say there were
some "duds" surrounding the kernel(s).
RE the appeal process vs going to court, as several folks alluded to and
I think you all know, you cannot run straight to court at this stage of
the game. While there is a technical (minimal) chance of cobbling
together some exception to the basic jurisdictional rules (primarily
exhaustion of admin remedies) tactically it would make no sense to try -
ie it sends the wrong messag to the Court, that we don't really know the
groundrules and are a bunch of pissed off wheelers. While that might
resonate with some element of the members it is our job to make them
better understand that sending such a message just gets you a "comic
relief" label with the judge and more marshals on duty at the federal
courthouse.
RE the comments ala "I've wasted my $" and "we could just go buy private
ground" according to my #s our firm has billed BRC a total of $17,891
total for Tellico. That includes all of the $ that went to Carla and 2
local counsel- ie it is everything. I know that seems like a lot of $
but in this context it is a pittance. For a frame of reference, there
was recently filed by the "antis" in the 9th Cir roadless cases a motion
for atty's fees in their "winning" appeal. For the one brief they filed
and preparing for/attending argument they are seeking 89,000 in fees,
which is calculated in case you are wondering at what they deem to be
the SF market rate of $525/hour.
I am no expert on real estate prices in the locale but doubt you can buy
much for 20K. In a perfect world I'd recommend being on both sides of
this argument- ie fighting for every prvilege on public lands while
"hedging" by developing state/local govt and privately owned & managed
sites.
Regardless of the #s on the "fight for public vs buy private" issue,
many posts make the legit point that this is about big picture and
putting up a fight. Even if it is a tough cause there is value to be
gained in fighting, even if one ultimately loses. There needs to be a
message sent in the agency that the local decisionmakers at a place like
Tellico have tossed and turned more nights than not over several years,
and hope to get away ASAP to somewhere nice and quiet.
I need a new paragraph to address the related question of political
implications. Obama's approval rating is trending strongly downward.
If like me you are generally distrustful of all politicians regardless
of their party affiliation, race or country of origin, I suspect his
approval chart is comparable to W's the first 10 months in office. My
point is that the admin, with a strongly D congress, stands at a
crossroads. It is hard to say how "we" will factor in. One scenario is
that "their" faithful will demand a sacrifice, and "we" might fit the
bill. Another scenario is that they might overlook "us" in thinking
that it is not worth the effort to fight those nasty little motorheads
whose demise appeals to only a segment of the broader D power base.
RE litigation risk, yes, it is sad but undeniably true that the USFS
fears TU and SELC's lawsuit more than ours. And you'd make the same
assessment if you were in their shoes. While that is partly b/c of the
current trend toward PC and saving the planet and publicly hating all
things engine powered, a more fundamental cause is "the law" which is
stacked strongly against us. Again, to the extent one needs to
love/hate organized politicians, please note the "environmental"
statutues were conceived/passed in the late 60's early 70's, when there
were plenty of folks on both sides of the aisle in prominent positions.
From my view a classic case of what seemed like a reasonable idea gone
bad through 30+ years hindsight.
Without attempting a complete analysis, the legal arguments are tough.
In my experience, the Forest plan is a kaleidoscope they can spin to
their satisfaction- if they want to adhere to it they will claim it is
an inflexible mandate that must be followed- if they need to change it
they will (correctly) point out it is easily amended. In our comments
and other efforts we tried to get them to follow the latter approach,
which they obviously rejected. Similarly, we have some arguments about
"diverse" opportunities and balance, but in the end it is very fluid and
the FS has broad discretion.
Bottom line, we face the sisyphean task of rolling Tellico back up the
hill. I will not promise we will not be crushed under that rock. The
real question is whether we want to be known for dying under the rock on
the hillside, or walking away from it before it ever moved. And
sticking with that analogy, walking away might make the rock bigger and
the hill steeper the next time around. Thanks, Paul.
Paul A. Turcke
Moore Smith Buxton & Turcke, Chartered
950 West Bannock, Suite 520
Boise, Idaho 83702
Phone: 208-331-1807
Fax: 208-331-1202
pat@msbtlaw.com
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