Monte Wolfe cabin debate heats up

A United States Forest Service volunteer has publicly admitted he took part in the partial destruction of a historical cabin in the Mokelumne Wilderness, and said local federal officials not only participated in the action, but sanctioned it. The revelation came during the regular meeting of the Amador County Board of Supervisors Dec. 21, during a discussion on whether or not to send a letter of support for a preservation effort involving a structure in the wilderness area known as "Monte Wolfe's Cabin." Local officials have described the damage as "illegal vandalism." Board Chairman Brian Oneto said supervisors had been approached by historians from the Monte Wolfe Foundation to draft a letter of support to nominate the cabin as one of America's 11 most endangered places, as listed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "They requested that we be supportive of nominating Monte Wolfe's cabin," said Oneto. "There's some controversy over whether that cabin should stay intact in the wilderness or not, and that's what this is about." Oneto added he felt the cabin, in place long before the land on which it sits was included in the Mokelumne Wilderness Area by Congressional action in 1964, should be preserved. He voiced his displeasure at learning the structure had been vandalized, allegedly by a ranger of the USFS and two USFS volunteers, in an action apparently approved by the now-retired Ross. Supervisor John Plasse provided a detailed report about the damage done to the cabin and said the actions carried out by USFS employees, acting without higher authorization, played a large part in his determination to support placing the structure on the National Register of Historic Places. "Sometime about a year-and-a-half ago," explained Plasse, "a group of three individuals ... hiked into this remote cabin in the wilderness and intentionally caused harm to this cabin through tearing the door off ... and smashing it into kindling-size pieces, taking the stovepipe down out of the cabin and ... a roofjack off the roof, thereby exposing the cabin itself to the elements, literally a couple of days before the first storms of that year." Plasse said when USFS officials were notified of the vandalism, they denied any knowledge of it. "Local district rangers initially claimed there was no management-level authorization or knowledge of this action being taken by their employees," he said. "You've got to wonder what the hell is wrong with people that they would go in and do damage like that," said Supervisor Louis Boitano. "They should be held accountable for it and anybody else involved in this should be ashamed of themselves."...more

The Wilderness Act defines Wilderness as "an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain...without permanent improvements or human habitation...which generally appears to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, with the imprint of man's work substantially unnoticeable."

The Forest Service for many years has been getting rid of cabins in Wilderness areas. Usually they rely on nature, such as a fire, to get the job done. It now appears nature is too slow, so they are sending their own employees to tear them down.

Now if a cabin is in a Wilderness area, that must mean it is "substantially unnoticeable", otherwise it wouldn't qualify as Wilderness. And if it is "substantially unnoticeable" then why is the Forest Service so hell-bent on removing them? The article quotes the former Forest Service Supervisor as saying "The Monte Wolfe cabin is offensive to anyone that truly values wilderness." Do they find this small remnant of humans so objectionable that they will tear it down with their own hands?

On this issue, the Forest Service is in cahoots with the enviros. From the article:

Plasse said he was aware of at least three organizations threatening litigation concerning the cabin. "Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics is one of the organizations," explained Plasse. "I was also at a recent meeting where both the Wilderness Watch and the High Sierra Hikers Association are also either threatening lawsuits or legal action if the forest service repairs the damage done to this cabin ... or they're seeking to string out the process so long that the natural environmental harm will have its greatest effect."

This whole situation is deserving of a Congressional investigation and oversight hearing. Maybe the new leadership in the House will take note.