Mountain Outlook

“Job Corps Training Center--good idea, wrong location.” This is the sentiment recently expressed by a Sierra Club representative at a public hearing on the U.S. Forest Service proposal to build a Job Corps Training/Conservation Center on Mt. Laguna.

But what is it exactly that makes the location unsuitable? The proposed site is on land within the Cleveland National Forest, and was formerly the location of a small Air Force Base. Since the Air Force vacated the site in 1981, the apartments, barracks, offices and other structures have deteriorated from neglect and vandalism. The Forest Service now proposes restoring much of the site and utilizing the area for a Job Corps Training Center aimed at the education and training of disadvantaged youths.

The objections raised by some in the Mt. Laguna community have been varied. The Forest Service has effectively addressed those concerns which relate to the physical impact of the center upon the environment and the community.

An adequate water source must be available to support the facility, or the project will not go forward. The Job Corps trainees will be closely supervised and will spend little if any free time outside the grounds, making it unlikely the crime rate will increase. The traffic generated by the center will be less than that created by the Air Force base during its existence. Although someone will always be available to debate the point, the center will not wreak environmental or social havoc on Mt. Laguna.

Some opponents to the center now urge using the site for a purpose that benefits the public as a whole, rather than “allowing it to become the private domain of 250 Job Corps trainees” (Letter to the Editor by A.H. Reed, March 25.) If the criterion for approving the land’s use is its accessibility to the general public, a great deal of other interests would be forced to vacate the mountain. Of the 8,680 acres that make up the Mt. Laguna Recreation area, about 35 acres would be utilized for the center. In comparison, about 180 acres are leased to owners of private summer homes. Businesses, the Al Bahr Shrine Camp and the Sierra Club also have permits from the Forest Service allowing them exclusive use of several acres of property. Thus, many of those opposed to this particular proposal have already secured their piece of the mountain.

Although Forest Service land is at least in theory the property of all Americans, some uses of that land will always benefit some more than others. Even campgrounds in the national forests fit this description, as some people cannot afford the user fees, and are thus unable to take advantage of these public resources.

This type of “uneven” public benefit is not a sound reason for abandoning a project. A logical extension of the argument would make it impossible to do anything with the public lands that could not be utilized by the public at large.

There is room for the Job Corps in Mt. Laguna. It will take up a relatively small amount of land when compared to the total acreage of the recreation area and will not deprive the public from the recreational uses now available.

Further, it will enable thousands of young people to improve their futures, away from the urban pressures that make many of their lives so difficult. Reports from other communities with similar Training Centers give them high marks as neighbors. With a little tolerance and generosity, Mt. Laguna should be able to do the same.

SHEILA A. SADA

Owner, Laguna Mountain Lodge