There is a saying that has been well used up, but I am going to repeat it anyhow, here it is: the guy told the other fellow, be patient, things could be worse, so the fellow was patient and sure enough, things got worse. I am talking about the lame brains we have elected to Congress and Senate, Steve Daines, Ryan Zinke and Jon Tester.
After Tester was first elected, it appeared he had a pretty level head, but after these two guys were elected, Jon appeared to fall in with these guys more and more. The stuff that’s in the December 17th Missoulian and Ravalli Republic would confirm your thoughts as to why we were dumb enough to elect these guys. They want to cut the second growth timber and cut down the little Christmas size trees for fire prevention and forest health.
You folks should look close at what the fires of 2000 and more up until now have done. I have looked at these fires, I have seen where they burned through recent clear cuts that had been burned just after logging. I’ve seen fires go through areas that never had trees and very little vegetation of any kind. Just last year you saw fires on TV that were grass and only an occasional tree and the fire fighters couldn’t stop them. Every year there are more areas of grass land burns, the eastern part of the state that burned.
On the timbered Western parts, the Forest Service is getting very little stumpage money for the sales after road building and other costs are taken out. These little trees on the Three Saddles sale on the head of Ambrose cost 40 to 50 thousand dollars. In ten years new, young trees will pop up where they have opened, where the sun can hit the ground. Are they going to spend another 40 to 50 thousand to cut these little trees every ten years? What about replacement trees for the 2nd growth timber they have cut out?
All of this cutting will have little bearing on fire. What about all the animals, birds and host of things that have been keeping the forest healthy? Most everything that has and is being done is for nothing. It is and has been a tired, old tune by populations. If in doubt, they say they will create jobs, in the case of logging it’s very few, as the automation in the woods and mills has reduced the number of workers needed.
The timber work force is a fraction of what it used to be, and now these guys are putting on the squeeze more. They started by getting the appeal process billed, then they tried to get it so the Forest Service could be saved from breaking laws and regulations. For instance, they would have that logging areas of 3,000 acres or less would be exempt from environmental review.
Read it carefully, folks. If these guys are able to get their wishes, it will be 100 years before we get our forests back, if that soon.
Floyd Wood
Corvallis