By Marilyn Saunders, Hamilton
Re: Impact of Timber Harvest Declines on the Ravalli County Economy by Dr. Barkey
After reading the Barkey report several times and trying to sort out why it was necessary to accept a proposal for funding the topic, I believe the county commissioners were underserved in his response.
Every university has three major goals. An important one is outreach, in which their scholarly leadership and information is openly shared for the consumption and engagement of communities. I believe this expensive report was a far cry from open and scholarly. Most of its content was already readily available on the internet, available from other sources, or should have been openly supplied by the university.
A recent article in the Bitterroot Star revealed more than 4,000 people in Ravalli County live with under $17,000 as their yearly income. How can the cost for this insubstantial report be justified? Whereas the county commissioners continually state that insufficient money exists in the coffers to check into certain topics needing resolution, to assign funds for needed road work, to develop important road policy, and to fill positions, how can such a large sum of money ($17k) be outlaid to pay for vague speculation that a mere 514 individuals “might” be employed somewhere in a hypothetical timber industry?
What is the amount of money that will be spent to close forest roads, funds needed to open new ones and supporting renewal of this old industry? Where will the costs for post-harvest restoration come from, who will pay, and how much? What will fire suppression cost? Who will pay?How will the natural resources be protected: recreation, fisheries, scenic value, wildlife, water quality and availability, tourism enhancement?
Where did lumber come from in Table 3, for the primary wood product facilities in the county? We already know where the logs come from for a major log home builder in the county. This may change due to the tariffs now imposed on Canadian imports. No direct relationship exists for lumber used by facilities in the county versus timber harvested in the county. In fact, one of the few truly revealing statements in the report states that “not all jobs, wages, and project sales would have been in county.” So, the number of jobs stated at $51,000 per year is not actually even relevant to Ravalli County?
In summary, what will the actual cost be to Ravalli County taxpayers to subsidize these private profits?