Letters

Sierra Club: Conservationists Or Radical Preservationists?

If the author of the opinion-page article "Will the Real Sierra Club Please Stand Up?" May 24, truly believes his own statistics and assumptions about our nation's forests, then he shouldn't have any quarrel with the Sierra Club. If our forests are truly abundant, then he must logically conclude that we can save a small portion of them for wildlife habitat and not log our national forests and wildlife refugees.

The problem is that our forests are in fact a finite resource, and that the ravenous American appetite shows no sign of abating.

The logging industry, in the meantime, is not practicing responsible "forest management" but is actually clear-cutting national forests under the ruse of a salvage rider recently passed by Congress.

We must ban logging on federal public lands. The fact that the Sierra Club and other "moderate" environmental groups have taken such a strident stand only serves to illustrate the desperate situation we face.

There is nothing left to compromise.

Christine Short

Belvedere, Calif.

The article asks the question "Is the real Sierra Club a true conservationist organization or a radical preservationist organization?" The answer is the latter, and the conversion didn't just happen, as the writer suggests. Sierra Club chairman Michael McCloskey has said, "Trees and rocks have rights to their own freedom to go their own way untrammeled and unfettered by man."

Sierra director Dave Foreman (founder of Earth First!) said, "Phasing out the human race will solve every problem on earth, social and environmental."

These are hardly the words of a "conservationist" organization.

Y. Leon Favreau

Shelburne, N.H.

Turkey fights terrorism

I read with interest the article "Kurds Caught Between Turks, Saddam, Their Own Factions," April 30.

The piece presents an accurate picture of Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK), the vicious Marxist-Leninist terrorist organization that kills the very people it claims to represent.

It should be noted that Turkey's operation in northern Iraq was limited in scope and duration. It specifically targeted the terrorist camps from which the PKK launched its cross-border raids into Turkey.

As Turkey executed this operation, the utmost attention was paid to ensuring the safety and well-being of the civilian population in the area.

Both the United Nations and the United States acknowledged Turkey's vigilance in this regard.

Turkey has played a significant role in alleviating the suffering of the people of northern Iraq. Turkey has extended unmatched amounts of humanitarian assistance, including electricity; and we have accepted refugees who have streamed across the border into Turkey fleeing Saddam Hussein's wrath. Turkey will remain sensitive to their situation.

Levent Gumrukcu

Washington

Third Secretary

Turkish Embassy Spokesperson