New Forest Supervisor joins the Inyo

Editor's note: Last May, Jeff Bailey became the new Forest Supervisor of the 1.9-million-acre Inyo National Forest. On October 30th Bailey met with staff at the Mono Lake Committee Information Center. This follow-up interview by Policy Director Heidi Hopkins begins a new phase in the long standing relationship between the Committee and the Inyo National Forest. Bailey brings extensive experience in wilderness management, winter sports administration, and special use permits. Since 1977 he has held Forest Service positions in Idaho, Colorado, and Washington, DC. He should feel right at home here in the Eastern Sierra as he enjoys horseback riding, Nordic and alpine skiing, hiking, and backpacking.

Among the skills and experience you bring to the Inyo National Forest, what do you see as most helpful to managing issues in the Mono Basin Scenic Area?

Well, there was a time in my life when I was in charge of the Arapaho National Recreation Area in Colorado. There were water-based recreation opportunities, and we had four lakes that we were responsible for. It is very similar recreation, we were very concerned about maintaining and protecting the scenic quality of the area, and that was written right into the law. So I think there is direct application, most all of my experience has been in recreation.

When I was a district ranger I had a district that managed water resources for recreation purposes, and it was a huge recreation district, one of the biggest in both Colorado and the US. So I think that my background fits very nicely. I'm also extremely strong in wilderness management, and in an area called the Lands Program or Real Estate Program, where we authorize projects under special use permits. As a district ranger I was responsible for all of the resource management issues, not just recreation and wilderness, and I think that it helped me to understand a broad array of resource issues.

When I was in Washington, DC for a period of time I worked on congressionally designated areas. National Scenic Areas, National Recreation Areas, Wilderness Areas, and Wild and Scenic River Areas are all part of that equation. I was basically the number two person in the United States working on those issues, so I think the Inyo fits me well--I think I have a sensitivity and an understanding of at least some of the issues that the area is facing.

What do you see as the relationship between the Scenic Area and the Inyo National Forest as a whole?

It is an integral part of the forest, by which I mean they are inseparably connected. I think what is important is that we are worried about protecting the scenic quality not just, of course, in the Mono Lake area but across the entire National Forest with Highway 395, which is a Scenic Highway, going right through portions of it. We have millions of visitors who go up towards Yosemite and one of the big things we do as an agency is try to provide beautiful settings for people to enjoy whether they are directly recreating in them or passing through them. That is a huge role and responsibility that we have, and I think we're up to the task. I also think that there has to be continued integration of the Scenic Area with the management of the Inyo National Forest, if nothing more than the ability to share resources. We have tremendously qualified and excellent specialists that have forest-wide responsibilities, including the basin, and those are the hydrologists, archeologists, soil scientists, wildlife biologists, and fisheries biologists. I think that is the strength of including the management of the Mono Basin with the expertise that we have across the forest.

Realizing that you're just getting started here, what is your current vision for the Scenic Area and what are you goals for its management?

My vision would be that we maintain and protect the high visual quality that we currently have and look for opportunities to improve the visual quality. Also, my vision is that we operate in a very open and collaborative way, bringing in as many and varied members of the public as we can. I think one of our challenges is going to be that it is not too difficult to bring in the people that have a very local interest, but we must also try to bring in those people that have a more national interest or regional interest, regional meaning California, Nevada, or larger scale. This is the vision that I've shared in collaboration with our existing Forest Service team.

Recreation is an important element of the Eastern Sierra because of the many available opportunities and because it is an important basis for the regional economy. What recreation issues do you see arising in the Scenic Area and what will be your guiding principles in addressing those issues?

Well, one of the things that we are challenged with is providing recreational facilities--a case in point is the South Tufa Area. As you know, we're struggling with the level of development there. We need to be able to get people in to enjoy and appreciate the Scenic Area by providing the infrastructure to support them and at the same time not compromising the scenic value for which the area was created. I know that this topic is very near and dear to your heart, and it is to ours too; it is something that we're trying to balance.

The other item that comes to mind is that, as the lake level goes up, there are going to be either new demands placed on the lake, or demands returning that were there previously before the lake level went down. I'm thinking about motorized recreation on the lake, potential marina operations. I think we're going to see people, if you will, coming back to the lake to recreate that maybe previously, had left because the water levels were low. I think that is going to create in some ways opportunities, and other ways issues, that we're going to need to deal with as a community of interests. We really need to think about how to address those issues that will be on our doorstep. To me that is a big challenge that is in front of us.

What role do you see for science in forest management?

I think it is incredibly important. We as an agency have been utilizing the best available science almost since we were created. What we are finding is that the actual scientists that we have, who work in a different branch of the Forest Service, the research branch, are moving out of the laboratory and providing more direct help to us. Our planning effort for the Sierra Nevada Framework for Conservation is a good example. We have a team of scientists who are working right with us in developing the Environmental Impact Statement. Connie Millar, who was with the Pacific Southwest Experiment Station, spends her summers in the Mono Basin area conducting research and providing help to the forest.

I think it is extremely critical that we use all of the science that we have. One of the things that you and I had talked about previously is that even after you have all of the science that is possible, you still get issues. How do you define scenic quality? It becomes almost a value judgement For one person this is scenically beautiful, to another person that is scenically beautiful. That is where you have to place some level of definition to it, and as soon as you begin to do that some people will see it in a different way. Science in many cases doesn't help us very much in trying to get to those value judgements. It is like the wilderness plan draft that we have out on the street, where there is an issue of how many encounters with others constitutes a violation of your solitude, so to speak, and it becomes a value thing. One person could say, "if I don't see anybody, well then, that is what I'm looking for," and another might say, "if I see 10 people then I can tolerate that," so it becomes judgmental in a way. To get at those of things we do have social scientists that help us arrive at some general parameters, but it still always seems to get down to some pretty tough judgement calls that science sometimes helps us with and sometimes doesn't. In the end, you have both science and values that you're dealing with out there, and they are both important.

What do you see as the biggest challenge or challenges facing the Inyo, particularly as they might relate to the Mono Basin?