Posted on 02/15/2008 7:24:16 PM PST by george76
In the 1930s, when the United States was mired in a Great Depression, Congress wisely and with great vision approved the O&C Lands Act to guide the management of federal lands that once belonged to the Oregon & California Railroad...
The act established a method for funding Oregon counties, allowing them to provide such vital services as public safety and road maintenance.
Now, because of the efforts of the environmental movement and its litigious attorneys, the O&C funding formula that was successful for decades has been severed.
Environmental groups and their allies argue that tourism can take the place of the millions of lost timber dollars and revenues from these O&C public lands. But tourism jobs and revenues often simply cannot replace the family-wage jobs and tax revenues that have historically come from timber production on these lands.
Environmental groups have successfully fought efforts to salvage and replant burned areas in Oregon, even when it would benefit forest health... Even deer populations benefit from clear-cut areas.
The Wilderness Society boasts an executive director who earns a hefty six-figure salary and runs a multi-million dollar organization. Keene doesn’t note how the environmental industry and its attorneys benefit financially from disrupting local economies. Groups like the Wilderness Society don’t pay taxes ...
Wealthy, tax-exempt groups such as the Wilderness Society also work to restrict public access to public lands ...
To the Wilderness Society and its executives, and other wealthy groups such as the Sierra Club, the public should be excluded from public lands and those areas shouldn’t be a tax base for local Oregon counties.
Ironically, recreationists like hikers and fishermen often access public areas on old logging roads, built by those in the wood products industry.
(Excerpt) Read more at registerguard.com ...
Wealthy, tax-exempt groups such as the Wilderness Society also work to restrict public access to public lands ...
My wood stove works just fine, thank you.
Tree huggers are not pro environment, they are simply just anti-human beings.
Good piece! Written by a couple of voices of reason in Lane County. Surprised The Register-Guard printed it, Eugene is full of radical enviros and I’d think the paper is a left leaning lib publication.
These enviro wackos ruined the economy in So Or years ago when they used the spotted owl to shut down the timber industry.
Thanks for the ping.
I am also surprised that The Register-Guard printed it.
There are more tree in north america now than there were when Columbus visited this land.
There are more trees in north america now than there were when Columbus visited this land.
I live and hunt here too and in the mature pine rows with no undergrowth you never find any game hardly, but move into an area that was cut over 2-4 years before and the tops were left you’ll find game galore.
Secret...You and I..the tax payers of this country get to pay ALL the litigation fees for these wacko groups when they file suits to stop timber harvests and other activities they deem fit to be stopped.
Put an end to this practice and you’ll put an end to these radical terrorist groups. And thats what they are!
Read the Book-Northwest Passage, a book based on historical fact, and you will see how much they sufferd after attacking Quebec and how they starved comming back through the wilderness from that attack.
The Indians used to burn areas of forest around them to increase wildlife.
Old growth forests are stagnant. There is nothing going on there except a stagnant ecosystem that is prone to desease and such.
End thier tax-exempt status & they will go away fast enough.
I lie in Alaska, believe me, Greenies are not well liked hereabouts.
HAte $4 a gallon gas?
Thank a Greenie.
Can’t afford lumber?
Thank a Greenie?
Can’t train your Army or Marine troops?
Curse a Greenie........
The environmental movement has made themselves tons on money. The hangers on, like the lawyers, love their fees.
Many rural, working communities have been destroyed.
Mining, logging, commercial fishing, ranching, farming. hunting...are all under attack.
You got that right!
In my job I deal with timber company and foresters everyday. It absolutely enrages me the way the environmentalists have given these people a bad name. The same with hunters. These people care MORE about the environment than any other group. They treat the forest and the wildlife with extreme care and yet these evirowackos make them out to be villians.
Timber companies, foresters and hunters are the true conservationists when it comes to the land.
The eco-nuts generally have no scientific training nor education.
The ecos raise lots of money thru lawsuits and fund raisers in cities far away.
Misguided environmentalists actually hurting wildlife here
By Don Mallicoat
January 24, 2008 12:15 am
The front-page article, “Development puts 10 WNC bird species in danger” (AC-T, Dec. 10), was reporting on the 2007 Watch List published by The Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy including species such as the golden-winged warbler that require disturbance-dependent habitat for their survival. Development plays a role in the loss of habitat, but there is a larger culprit that needs to be addressed. First though, we need to connect the dots.
This Watch List is the third in a series of dots from the sponsoring organizations. The first dot was when the American Bird Conservancy issued a report in 2007 that named loss of early successional Eastern deciduous forest as we have in WNC as one of 20 Most Threatened Bird Habitats. Early successional habitat, or forest disturbance, is essential for the golden-winged warbler and others of the birds in danger.
Seeing a pattern
The second dot comes from the other sponsor of the Watch List, the National Audubon Society, which listed the ruffed grouse in its Top 20 Common Birds in Decline. Grouse numbers throughout their range are down 54 percent. What are the habitat needs of the ruffed grouse? They are birds of forest edges and need, you guessed it, early successional habitat. Am I the only one who sees a pattern to these dots?
It’s easy to blame rampant development and big corporations for loss of bird habitat. Yes, they are part of the problem with loss of habitat on private land. However, we have more than 1 million acres of national and state forest land in the region that should be able to compensate. We all enjoy the beauty of our mountain forests. So why isn’t there sufficient habitat there for these birds?
Here is where dot four comes in the form of a report commissioned by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and conducted by the highly regarded Pinchot Institute that certifies private forests for sustainability. The report was released in November and the most notable finding by the auditors was that the USFS is not cutting enough trees on our national forests. The audit states, “In all cases, harvests did not reach levels necessary to achieve a future condition reflecting their social, economic and ecological goals.”
So what does this last one have to do with bird habitat? Well, timber harvests are the primary tool of the USFS to establish early successional forest habitat. By most accounts, our national forests are about 1 percent early successional habitat when the goal is 10 percent. Closer to home, in a recent proposal to create wildlife habitat in the Shope Creek area of Pisgah National Forest northeast of Asheville, none of the forest in that area is currently early successional habitat. So how did our forests get in such a deplorable state for wildlife?
Not real conservationists
You can primarily thank environmental organizations, some locally headquartered, for that. Every time the Forest Service attempts to harvest hardwood timber from the national forests in the mountains, these groups, disguised as conservationists, use procedural appeals to stop the project. They recently appealed the Globe Project near Blowing Rock, where the USFS plans partial harvests on 1 percent of 11,000 acres. Their vocal protests were based on destroying the view from gated communities near Blowing Rock and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Is it too much to give 1 percent for wildlife habitat? Their misguided efforts depend on an uninformed populace to support their mantra, “Don’t cut the trees.”
Well guess what? You have to cut trees to establish early successional habitat for the golden-winged warbler, ruffed grouse, and other wildlife. Prescribed fire won’t do it, not in a hardwood forest.
Minnesota’s example
I had the opportunity to hunt in national forests in Minnesota this autumn. There are a lot of grouse. They also cut trees. These beautiful forests are a patchwork of diverse habitat. There is also varied recreational use. We routinely walked snowmobile, cross-country ski and hiking trails while hunting. The national forests in our mountains can similarly maintain their natural beauty while providing both wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities.
The dots are connected. Whether you enjoy the golden beauty of the warbler or thunderous explosion of the ruffed grouse, it is time for real conservationists to listen to the professionals in the Forest Service and Pinchot Institute when it comes to providing a home for wildlife. Preserving a renewable resource like trees to maintain a human vista at the expense of a home for wildlife is a losing position for those who enjoy our forests.
Don Mallicoat is a regional director for the Ruffed Grouse Society and an avid outdoorsman. He can be reached at rgsdonm@outdrs.net.
http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080124/OPINION03/80123038/1006/OPINION
Something else to watch: mining in Alaska is possibly to be closed soon, and that includes oil and natural gas. This is on top of closing timber harvest several years ago. What is next? Close fishing? It might be noted that coal mining was closed in Alaska before 1900, or IOW about as soon as commercial deposits of coal were found.
Misguided environmentalists actually hurting wildlife ...
Very true.
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