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--> --> In defense of the Sierra Club Recent letters attacking members of the Sierra Club and other environmentalists for opposing the expansion of the Mt. Ashland ski area have the ring of desperation about them. One characterizes opposition by environmentalists (letter of July 10) as "monomaniacal," and imagines them harboring a "sanctimonious intolerance" of "elitist" skiers "cavorting" in the snow. This writer goes so far as to assert that the Sierra Club - in spite of abundant public evidence to the contrary - is opposed to the existence of the present ski area itself. The values of these two groups could hardly be in sharper conflict. Those opposing the expansion represent a vision of environmental integrity as the highest good - of a pristine forest right at our doorstep, of a pure and secure city water supply, of an intact ecosystem to be handed down to future generations. It's a long-range, generational ethic. Though many are skiers themselves, they see the present plans for expansion as unsound and ill-advised from any angle, and will "cavort" elsewhere, or forego cavorting, in the interest of more meaningful values. Those favoring expansion seem to elevate the pleasure principle to the highest priority. It's "now" ethic. They will, among other acts of desecration, gladly clear-cut the equivalent of 80 football fields of publicly owned old-growth forest in order for a few people (some 8 percent of the population) to "cavort" for a few weeks in the snow, if there is any. And yet these writers deny the "elitist" label. One could hardly improve on the writer quoted in the letter of July 10th who described this fun-at-any-cost crowd as "a handful of privileged hobbyists seeking high-risk visceral kicks at the expense of the environment." Isaac Walker Ashland Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing