By Jeff Juel, Missoula
The US Forest Service is trying to deceive the public about its destructive logging, this time in the Bitterroot National Forest (Gold Butterfly project, September 1 Bitterroot Star). Forest Supervisor Anderson says the selected alternative was modified to retain old growth status. Then why does the agency now need to reverse its decision and amend its Forest Plan?
To the Forest Service, “retain old growth status” means cut many large old trees from old growth, leaving some to meet the stale, technical definition their amendment would adopt. The spirit and intent of the original Forest Plan, on the other hand, was to maintain old growth by letting it be, recognizing nature can manage these ancient groves quite nicely without chainsaws.
The Forest Service already desecrated the old growth by spraying paint on the old trees it would retain—official vandalism. The rest of the grove would be engineered to agency specifications because the tree farmers in the agency think they know better.
Unfortunately, this is the Forest Service plan for what little old growth remains in our national forests. We need to defund this lawless agency, because it believes its main mission is feeding the timber beast.