I was glad to see open dialogue at recent town hall meeting on proposed logging

Our founding fathers were some pretty smart folks. When they created this country, they did so with the idea of giving the people a way to peacefully address their grievances with the government.

Mark White is Editor of The News Journal.

On Nov. 17, we got to see this in action locally as about 100 people gathered at the Whitley County Cooperative Extension Office for a town hall meeting with the U.S. Forest Service over a proposal to log a portion of the Daniel Boone National Forest on Jellico Mountain, including clear cutting about 1,000 acres of land.

The meeting was supposed to last for 90 minutes and gave time for the forest service to address the audience about its proposal and gave time for a conservation program to speak out about the proposal. Perhaps most importantly, the majority of the time was reserved for every day citizens to voice their concerns about the proposal and get answers to some of the questions that they had about it from the forest service’s proposal.

Kudos to forest service officials, who agreed to stay 30 minutes longer so that everyone present, who wanted to speak, could do so.

“I am grateful this morning for the free speech we enjoy in this country,” meeting organizer Theresa Martin wrote me in an e-mail about the event that I got a few days ago.

You couldn’t hold a meeting like this in every country. Despite America’s many faults, we still live in a great country, and things like this are one of the things that makes America so great.

In regards to the forest service’s forest plan for this region of the Daniel Boone National Forest, I hope the forest service takes note of some of the many comments made during the meeting speaking out against the clear cut logging proposal.

When you have multiple loggers and people from logging families speaking out saying this is a terrible idea, I think that speaks volumes or at least it does to me.

Personally, I’m not against logging or logging in the Daniel Boone National Forest as such either. I even think that logging should probably be used more in some cases to put in additional fire breaks so we don’t lose vast swaths of forest to wildfires.

However, I don’t see clear cutting 1,000 acres of our forest being a good thing.

While the meeting was recorded, it doesn’t count as an official comment on the proposed project.

The deadline to make official comments on the project is Dec. 5, and I would encourage those, who couldn’t attend the meeting, to speak out about your thoughts on this proposal.

Comments can be e-mailed to SM.FS.r8dbstecom@usda.gov.

Comments an also be left on the project website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63037.

In addition, comments can be mailed to Stearns Ranger District at 3320 Highway 27N, Whitley City, KY 42653.

You can also call (606) 376-5323 and be connected with someone, who will document your comments.

Now to switch gears and discuss one other topic before concluding this column.

I thought this year’s 15^th Annual Turkey Trot in Williamsburg went well. The weather was pretty nice, which almost always leads to a nice turnout. I think this event has become an annual tradition for many families, who run and/or walk the course each year prior to their turkey feasts.

The proceeds go towards a good cause, which is the annual Williamsburg Police Department Shop with a Cop program. For those that don’t know, Shop with a Cop takes less fortunate children on $100 shopping sprees at the local Walmart at Christmas time.

The Corbin Police Department also has a Shop with a Cop program.

Shop with a Cop is one of my favorite events to cover each year. It is difficult to top the smiles that you see on each kid’s face.

Often times, these kids don’t have a lot when it comes to monetary things. Despite having so little, often times these kids will want to take part of their money to buy things for their siblings. It’s tough not to get a tear in your eye when the officer tells them that their sibling has their own money to spend and this is all for them.

There are numerous worthy charities out, and Shop with a Cop is one of many that I would encourage people to make donations too. I’ve personally made some small donations to both programs this year.