Zinke's bill is latest lie about logging

The June 5 Inter Lake contains the story “Zinke bill aims for limits on lawsuits” and reports that the legislation would restrict individuals or groups who file logging lawsuits by requiring them to post a bond equal to the Forest Service’s cost of defending the project — a totally unknown amount. And if you don’t prevail on every point in your lawsuit, you wouldn’t get your bond back. Could you afford that?

A better title might have been “Zinke launches all-out attack on the Constitution.”

With the U.S. Forest Service routinely ignoring law, logic, and sound science on its projects, lawsuits are often the last line of defense for average citizens, be they environmental or industry, to rein in an unresponsive federal agency. And litigation is a clear expression of the “freedom of speech” and “right to petition the government for the redress of grievances” guaranteed in the Constitution.

Such nonsense is common in Northwest Montana where politicians are routinely expected to “kill the messenger” by blaming environmental groups who sound the warning over damage to public lands and wildlife, and file litigation to stop it.

This latest “Logging Without Laws” campaign kicked off in February when Sen. Daines called for all 10 of the state’s national forests to furnish more jobs, create greater economic opportunities, and provide sustainable revenues for county roads and school (aka “Clearcuts For Kids”) — apparently confusing the Forest Service with the Chamber of Commerce.

Not to be outdone, Sen. Tester chimed in during a Montana Public Radio interview that “Unfortunately, every logging sale in Montana right now is under litigation — every one.”

Apparently not wanting to let the facts get in the way of a good story, the Inter Lake in a Feb. 22 editorial chimed in with “Manage forests for the good of all” where it soon becoming clear that “all” meant all humans, loggers, and locals. It suggested that national forests should be “strengthening the economy of Montana” and that “it is irresponsible for the federal government to work against Montana families…” implying that the proper Forest Service role was a socialist redistribution of wealth from the nation’s taxpayers to benefit local loggers.

Unfortunately for the logging booster crowd, the Washington Post provided the actual facts on Feb. 25. It found that in 2014 the USFS Northern Region met its timber harvest goal of 280 mmbf (million board feet); that of 97 timber sales under contract just 14 had active litigation (14 percent); and only four were enjoined from logging (4 percent).

At the local level the story is much the same, with the Flathead Forest’s website showing that of 17 timber sales only four have been litigated, with some of those going ahead anyway. And in its recent scoping document on Forest Plan Revision, the Flathead is proposing a 61 percent increase in Suitable Timber Base acres compared to its 2006 Draft Forest Plan.

In a rational world where actual facts matter, that would be the end of the witch-hunt against the conservation community and the environmentally sound management of public lands. But in Northwest Montana, where politicians of both parties are blatant shills for the “Logging Without Laws” crowd, we have Rep. Zinke’s misguided legislation which, in an attempt to “get” his environmental constituents, actually attacks every American, and their constitutional right to challenge their government when it gets things wrong.

Peck is a resident of Columbia Falls.