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Re: NFC: Re: Fw: Resources other than timber now of secondaryimportance on Mo...



Mike,

I enjoyed your post!  A few comments:

<In the early nineties there was a 5 year proposal for National Forests in 
the Tennessee/Georgia area to have 40% clear cuts.>

Incredibly stupid of whoever made such a proposal!  About as dumb as the 
Army Corps' proposal to add dams to the upper Mississippi.

On the other hand, a federal judge just ruled this past week that the dead 
standing timber left after last years serious forest fires in Montana cannot 
be harvested.  The tyranny of the judiciary continues!  I believe the 
proposal covered some 50,000 acres of the Bitterroot National Forest, which 
is only a fraction of what burned.  It seems the insanity cuts both ways.

<i just think the National Forests should be used only for selective harvest 
of mature trees only.>
<I also think that, as a matter of law, no timber should be taken until the 
cost of building & maintaining roads at least equals the lease price.>

I guess the idealistic side of me would like to agree, but the realistic 
side knows that the most likely way to reach the latter goal is to allow 
clear-cutting; it is the most cost-effective method of harvesting timber.  
While a new clear-cut is ugly as sin, in a year or three the clear-cut area 
provides a lot more food and habitat for many species of wildlife than do 
'old-growth' areas.

Road-building is a very expensive proposition.  Economically, it would 
require a very substantial timber sale to pay for a road of any length or 
complexity.  Keep in mind that the roads provide access to many square miles 
of recreational land that would otherwise be inaccessible to most 
recreationalists.

Anyway, enough!

Happy Holidays to all NFCers!  All the best from my family to yours!

Scott




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