Pubdate: Sun, 22 Aug 2010 Source: Record Searchlight (Redding, CA) Copyright: 2010 Record Searchlight Contact: http://www.redding.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/360 Author: Tom Benfer Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v10/n668/a03.html FEDERAL OFFICIALS LOVE THEIR GATES Jim Milestone, superintendent of Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, wants to put up 10 more gates in our park at a cost of approximately $12,000. He uses the same old excuse to lock us out. The longest of these 10 roads is only half a mile, according to Milestone. He says the public will hardly notice. We the people just love seeing locked gates all over our park. Does he think this will really stop the pot growers? Get real. They will walk for miles to carry in their supplies and kill our game for food. Is it worth the money to have the eyesores and access blocked to the public? He says we can walk in, but for some of us that is not an option. In 2008 he said he would only lock South Fork Road for the growing season; then after the gate was up decided to keep it locked permanently. Sure, we can go to the king's headquarters each time we want to use our road. Can I do this at 4 a.m. to go watch the sunrise or do I have to wait until opening time? I'm convinced that Milestone and Shasta-Trinity National Forest Supervisor Sharon Heywood both share the same socialist goals: Lock us out of our forest. A little at a time over and over adds up. Please quit insulting us with the pot-grower excuse! Tom Benfer, Happy Valley - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake