News -Campaign seeks to crash forest gates

By JIM MANN
The Daily Inter Lake

A call for frustrated citizens to force their way past locked Forest Service gates this weekend has the Flathead National Forest's attention.

Local talk about "Gate Opening Days" has circulated mostly on KGEZ radio in recent weeks. Station owner and morning talk show host John Stokes said he has encouraged conversation, but he has not been inciting anarchy on federal forests.

"I've heard that from the environmental extremist side," Stokes said. "I told them I'm reporting the story and I'll interview anybody on the air who wants to express a viewpoint."

But Stokes said he is sympathetic with people who are unhappy with the steadily increasing number of closed roads on federal forests.

"I can see their frustration," he said. "They've tried all the other routes and they see more and more (closures) every day."

An e-mail circulated by Stokes explains Gate Opening Days, and asks that the message be forwarded to others.

"Heads up ... Citizens fed up with the federal land closures and locked gates and federal extreme environmental policies, will be permanently opening as many federal Forest Service locked gates as possible Oct. 20, 21, and 22," the e-mail says. "No organization, no committees, just citizens."

But Stokes said the message was merely an advisory of the topic he was going to discuss on one of his morning shows. The advisory, he said, was sent across the country.

And now he is hearing from people in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and as far as Virginia on the topic.

Stokes said he's heard from unidentified callers, both on-the-air and off, who say they've already cut locks off Forest Service gates.

Stokes said Gate Opening Days is a form of civil disobedience, and gates and locks are an "immediate symbol that people can put their hands on."

Flathead National Forest spokesman Allen Rowley said there will, as always, be an increased presence of Forest Service field workers and law enforcement officers for the Oct. 22 opening of the big game hunting season.

And Forest Service staffers will be keeping an eye out for gate vandalism.

"We think it's important for people to obey the travel plans, the road closures and hunting regulations," he said. "But we don't think we need to escalate confrontations in the woods over a couple of locks. And a heavy-handed patrol could do that."

Rowley said forest officials are concerned that gates could be vandalized on lands adjoining federal forests.

"Not all the gates that people find outside of town are managed by the Forest Service," Rowley said. "I'd feel real bad if those other agencies and private landowners ended up with vandalized gates because of people trying to target the Forest Service."