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mnottertail -> RE: Native American Spirituality & The Feds (10/23/2009 12:37:49 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Sanity
The law doesn't require their removal, religious fundamentalists require their removal, and the Federal Government is at their beck and call.
And you're in favor of that?
Because people could be havin' wild sex orgies in them pools?
Ah, tinfoiling and cherry picking......this from your own original link which you have clipped to change the viewpoint of what ACTUALLY OCCURRED.
These pools were built without a permit by one man.
"He was very cooperative. He was a well intentioned individual. But what he did was a violation of the U.S. Forest Service," said John Erickson, District Ranger.
That man paid a fine and did community service as punishment.
Now a year after they were built, the Forest Service says the cement tubs need to be destroyed.
"People don't realize it's illegal to construct those structures that he built there," said Erickson.
Erickson is not the only who feels the tubs need to go. A spokesman for the Shoshone-Paiute Indian tribe says the hot springs are sacred, and are being misused with alcohol, drugs and sex.
"Hot springs are a place where people go for healing and prayer, ceremonies," said Ted Howard, Shoshone-Paiute cultural resource director.
Many we spoke with agree the hot springs are sacred, but they think the tubs should be kept the way they are. They commend the man who built them.
"He had to pay community service as if this wasn't the biggest community service this guy could have done. They guy should have some kind of monument and to be recognized down here," said Toby Simpson.
"When you heard these pools maybe leaving maybe gone what did you think about that?" asked NewsChannel 7.
"It almost made me cry," said Brandt Seefeldt.
Now Brandt Seefeldt and Mary Hildreth are gathering support to keep the pools intact. They say the public should have a say on what happens to them.
"The conversation should be now. And the ideas to improve something that already exists is -- A, more cost effective, and B, more logical than ripping it down and maybe starting a new," said Seefeldt.
"What people are essentially asking me to do is ignore management of the forest and meeting our regulations," said Erickson.
After the tubs are destroyed, the Forest Service says that might be the time to have that discussion on what can be done to develop this area.
The tubs will be destroyed in the near future.
Those who want the tubs to stay are trying to get legal help.
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It is not uncommon for people to use tarps and rocks to make impromptu pools near hot springs in Idaho's forests. But a man - who officials with the U.S. Attorney's office refuse to identify - used mortar and rocks to make a series of permanent pools on the riverbank. It was done without permission from the Boise National Forest or the Shoshone-Paiute Tribe, which would have had to be consulted for the work to be approved.
"We have highly developed structures that were made illegally," Boise National Forest spokesman Dave Olson said. "District Ranger (John Erickson) felt that (it) was unauthorized, illegal use of the land. (Representatives of) the Shoshone-Paiute also became aware of this work and became concerned about it."
Boise National Forest officials say the man who built the pools eventually paid a fine and served community service.
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