Friends of Wolf Creek call to action

To the editor,

After decades of mostly being relegated to the side-lines, while promoters made slick presentations and the powers-that-be danced their dance, our time has arrived. On May 19, Senior District Judge Richard P. Matsch handed down his decision nullifying the land swap between the Rio Grande National Forest / USDA and Leavell-McCombs Joint Venture (Village at Wolf Creek speculators).

The Rio Grande Forest Service received a stinging rebuke for its one-sided approach and is currently digesting the judge’s decision before deciding how to move forward. The Village at Wolf Creek and the LMJV speculators once again find themselves back at first base with nothing to show for more than three decades of lobbying, beyond lost court battles and endless expenses.

Now is the time when a significant ground-swell of the Friends of Wolf Creek proactively lobbying Red McCombs, perhaps even his McCombs Foundation and certainly the VWC website and the Rio Grande National Forest administration, could well have a resounding impact on their thinking, or at least their decisions moving forward. You never know until you make the effort.

I don’t mean anything belligerent, that would be totally counter-productive! I’m talking about striving to win hearts and minds. Help in a friendly effort to educate and convince the source of the Alberta Park Problem of the error of their ways.

I’m serious, don’t ask for invitations. Make your own honest, hopefully fact-based effort to explain why you think Alberta Park deserves to be left alone. Explain to them why it should be allowed to continue functioning as the biologically productive watershed it’s been for millennia. Downstream Rio Grande River shareholders sure would benefit.
If all you have to offer is simple personal stories, perhaps your photos highlighting the specialness of that place, give it your best and make it ring. What’s also needed is persuasive arguments for why this wild wetland area with its fens and wildlife corridors must be protected and left untouched.

Explain to them why they should consider a Nature Conservancy or land swap with more development appropriate on lower elevation land, if develop they must.

There are only small windows of opportunity when your opinion matters. Take advantage of this moment. If you care about the future of Alberta Park and ending the Village at Wolf Creek threat, now is the time to step up and add your voice to the chorus of reason. For further information and a list of who’s who and addresses visit, NO-VillageAtWolfCreek.blogspot.com.

– Peter Miesler, Durango