Our national forests and the sewards that protect them

[MS Sunshine]

A special Chrismas Present to the logging interests from their friends at the White House.

MS Sunshine

[Wake up CALL]

Let me see, my choices are:

1) Jobs, firewood, and economic prosperity

or

2) Old trees, forest fires and critter overpopulation

Pardon me while I study my choices.

[MS Sunshine]

"2) Old trees, forest fires and critter overpopulation"

Old growth forests are being logged out of exsistance. Forest fires make healthy forests, but what you most likely really mean is forest fires that effect humans which means thinning trees near homes in small towns. Something yuppies don't like to do that near their $1,000,000 2nd homes. Thinking that logging National forests to control all the extra animals out there marks you as a Republicain.

MS Sunshine

[Wake up CALL]

"Thinking that logging National forests to control all the extra animals out there marks you as a Republicain."

This coming from a guy with a woman's handle that shreds cats!!! LMAO It should be no secret that I am a closet liberal that poses as a conservative.

[Zeno]

[ QUOTE ]
Thinking that logging National forests to control all the extra animals out there marks you as a Republicain.


[/ QUOTE ]

On your Mark, get set, go Republican!

[ QUOTE ]
Old growth forests are being logged out of exsistance.

[/ QUOTE ]

"Old growth forests" (virgin lands is a better less emotive term) are not being logged out of existence. Greatly reduced through out the world would be a more appropriate term. There are Tens of millions of acres in the lower 48 alone that are preserved forever as wilderness areas and Tens of million more acres that are preserved as other parklands and set-asides.

Wood is an essential building material and wood fiber is used in a host of products besides papermaking. The world needs wood. Trees are going to be cut. It may be better that the US cuts more trees as our forest policies are at least less destructive of the forest in general than many other countries (Russia, Brazil, and Mexico are some examples) and would cause less overall depletion of the world's forest.

And forests do rejuvenate. In fact you can clear-cut and burn a western American forest and in a 100 years a great forest is back. In 250 years you have an “old growth forest” again. So you see, there still is and always will be old growth forests, and the forests will probably outlast the human species on this planet. So relax, and remember to vote Republican.


-Zeno, Registered Republican and Proud of it.

[Ed I]

The Tongass rainforest has suffered for decades from excessive logging and road building. It would be a real shame if loggers are allowed into the roadless areas.

[Ray Zee]

they just opened the tongass roadless areas to logging. if you have a big tree in your yard it may be the last some day. so hug it for me.

[Zeno]

I could not see the article because of some registration thing. I do agree that once a roadless area has been declared or other such set-asides that it should be off limits. But some are set aside for study and can then be reopened for development or logging depending on the outcome of the study results.

I worked in Southeast (SE) Alaska in the mid to late 70's when they first started to do the roadless studies. Much land was saved. All of Admiralty Island was set aside, as were other large tracks of land which was a good idea and I supported it.

It was interesting that most the wood we took out went to Japan. In fact, one company I worked for was Japanese owned, but they had to use American workers. All the hemlock usually went for pulp and the spruce for timbers and lumber for building as did the cedar. They first logged large tracks of land in World War I for the spruce. It is a light and strong wood and went into making planes of that era. Logging really picked up in SE Alaska after WW II. But much of the logged areas have reground back rather nicely, for example, on Prince of Wales Island which has been extensively logged. And the logging techniques and policies are much more strict now than the 30 years ago when I was there happily raping the land. And I am proud of it by the way and have no regrets and make no apologies to anyone. If I were younger, I would happily go back and hack my way through that perpetually rainy, soggy, foggy, mossy, mosquitoes infested forests from one side of the island to the other. Hand me my Chainsaw.

-Zeno

[Ed I]

While attending Humboldt I once hired on to load a log ship bound for Japan. This was in the mid 70s when small mills were closing and large mills were cutting jobs. Damn tree huggers.