By Gary Taggart, Hamilton
I have been a resident for over 55 years, worked for the Sula Hot Shots as an international firefighter and was employed at several sawmills in the valley and at Stone Container Pulp Mill in Frenchtown over the years.
When we were logging, these types of fires came in 20- to 25-year cycles. Now the cycle is every year, since 1974 when they passed laws that allowed the special interest people to choke us so badly that the wood products industry was no longer feasible anywhere in the state.
When we were logging, the Forest Service would cruise timber, put in logging roads and made one of our most renewable natural resources become a way of harvesting old growth timber and thinning new growth to allow the healthy trees to survive and put a lot of people to work. Seems like the good old days are gone. Rather than harvesting timber and managing our forest, putting people to work and making good use of our resources, we are instead going to spend millions of taxpayers dollars to watch it all go up in smoke.
If we went back to the good old days, these fires would not be so intense and chances are there wouldn’t even be these kind of fires.
I remember when we, the wood products industry, agreed to take down all of our burners, quit building logging roads, did selective helicopter logging and shut down logging operations to do a study, on and on and on, we were doomed. We got to the point that every square inch of a log was put to good use. No more burners, all the bark was made into hog fuel, all the side slabs made into one-by lumber and/or wood chips to be processed into paper and its by-products. We did it right and we put people to work and made good use of a natural renewable resource. I remember when we did have these kinds of fires, we would shut all our mills down and go fight the fires and do our best to save our livelihoods. I certainly felt we did our part as well as the Forest Service did.
I think what is going on now with our beautiful Bitterroot National Forest is a perfect example of why I feel like we are a self destructing nation. We as the people of Montana need to step up, take charge and make some serious changes. If we don’t we will lose it all. Let’s do what we need to for the people in general, as a whole and not the few who feel they have the power to predict how we feel, think and live.
After 40 years of almost no timber sales and all these destructive fires, our politicians, finally, have come to the conclusion, “Oh, we need to start managing our forests better, really.” So where do you suggest we take all our wood products, logs, to a mill to make lumber, chips to a pulp mill to make paper, hog fuel to generate electricity? Sorry, they’re all gone. Besides, it’s just much easier to just let it all burn up. In fact, if it burns hot enough, not even weeds can grow, the soil is stagnant, but it’s good enough for erosion and mudslides.
Thanks to our people in charge for letting those “special interest groups” predict on how you vote or laws you pass, no matter whether it’s good or bad, right or wrong. Wake up, look around and do what’s best for the people in general.