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Forest Service bid to boost logging is challenged
by The Associated Press
Thursday February 19, 2009, 11:24 AM
Conservation groups are questioning an effort by several U.S. Forest Service managers in Idaho and Wyoming to court logging interests in the name of improving forest health.
Bridger-Teton forest supervisor Kniffy Hamilton, Shoshone forest supervisor Rebecca Aus and Caribou-Targhee forest supervisor Lawrence Timchak signed a letter dated Jan. 28 to loggers noting that forest health is being threatened by insects and large wildfires.
"Budgets and environmental restraints have reduced the number of acres that have been treated, primarily on national forest system lands," the letter says. "This has impacted the local wood products industry. Several local mills have closed and the capacity to improve forest land health through treatment and utilize the wood fiber has been reduced."
The letter and an accompanying questionnaire asks loggers and wood industry officials for information about their operations in order to gauge their ability to remove dead and dying trees.
The questionnaire asks loggers and wood industry officials about their current annual wood use, their potential annual wood use, the species of wood they prefer and the size of the material they prefer.
George Wuerthner, ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, said if the three forest supervisors really wanted to improve forest health, they would leave the forest alone.
"Basically, everything we do in forestry makes the forest more unhealthy, in my view," he said. "It's all designed to reduce the amount of biomass."
Wuerthner said about two-thirds of all wildlife species depend on dead trees at some point in their life. Those species include a number of insects, cavity-nesting birds, bald eagles, pine martens, bats, fish and salamanders.
Wuerthner also said logging doesn't work to reduce insect attacks.
Even if logging did work to promote forest health, Wuerthner said the associated impacts would likely negate any positive effects. For instance, logging roads not only contribute to soil erosion but also aid in the spread of noxious weeds.
Jonathan Ratner, director of the Wyoming office of the Western Watersheds Project, said the Forest Service is behind when it comes to understanding the effects of logging on forest health.
"It is purely about this outdated understanding that the forests are way too dense and we need to cut, which is absolutely wrong," he said.
Bridger-Teton spokeswoman Mary Cernicek said some areas on the forest have "extraordinary amounts of beetle-killed trees."
"The Forest Service specialists acknowledge that a certain amount of dead and downed timber is needed to promote healthy life cycles and habitat for both plant and animal species," she said. "However, if there is a way to benefit the wood products industries, keeping in balance with our multiple-use mission, the forest will explore that."
The Bridger-Teton and Shoshone forests are in Wyoming, while Caribou-Targhee is located in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
-- The Associated Press
by The Associated Press
Thursday February 19, 2009, 11:24 AM
Conservation groups are questioning an effort by several U.S. Forest Service managers in Idaho and Wyoming to court logging interests in the name of improving forest health.
Bridger-Teton forest supervisor Kniffy Hamilton, Shoshone forest supervisor Rebecca Aus and Caribou-Targhee forest supervisor Lawrence Timchak signed a letter dated Jan. 28 to loggers noting that forest health is being threatened by insects and large wildfires.
"Budgets and environmental restraints have reduced the number of acres that have been treated, primarily on national forest system lands," the letter says. "This has impacted the local wood products industry. Several local mills have closed and the capacity to improve forest land health through treatment and utilize the wood fiber has been reduced."
The letter and an accompanying questionnaire asks loggers and wood industry officials for information about their operations in order to gauge their ability to remove dead and dying trees.
The questionnaire asks loggers and wood industry officials about their current annual wood use, their potential annual wood use, the species of wood they prefer and the size of the material they prefer.
George Wuerthner, ecological projects director for the Foundation for Deep Ecology, said if the three forest supervisors really wanted to improve forest health, they would leave the forest alone.
"Basically, everything we do in forestry makes the forest more unhealthy, in my view," he said. "It's all designed to reduce the amount of biomass."
Wuerthner said about two-thirds of all wildlife species depend on dead trees at some point in their life. Those species include a number of insects, cavity-nesting birds, bald eagles, pine martens, bats, fish and salamanders.
Wuerthner also said logging doesn't work to reduce insect attacks.
Even if logging did work to promote forest health, Wuerthner said the associated impacts would likely negate any positive effects. For instance, logging roads not only contribute to soil erosion but also aid in the spread of noxious weeds.
Jonathan Ratner, director of the Wyoming office of the Western Watersheds Project, said the Forest Service is behind when it comes to understanding the effects of logging on forest health.
"It is purely about this outdated understanding that the forests are way too dense and we need to cut, which is absolutely wrong," he said.
Bridger-Teton spokeswoman Mary Cernicek said some areas on the forest have "extraordinary amounts of beetle-killed trees."
"The Forest Service specialists acknowledge that a certain amount of dead and downed timber is needed to promote healthy life cycles and habitat for both plant and animal species," she said. "However, if there is a way to benefit the wood products industries, keeping in balance with our multiple-use mission, the forest will explore that."
The Bridger-Teton and Shoshone forests are in Wyoming, while Caribou-Targhee is located in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
-- The Associated Press
