Current forest policy is failing miserably

Oh yes, the Lincoln County Commissioners got it right about the Black Ram logging project in the Yaak, contrary to the letter to the editor by Douglas Balmain (Aug. 2) who merely presented a rehash of old washed-out propaganda of extreme ecologists.

And, no matter what he says, this isn’t about grizzly bears, water and air quality or forest health — it’s solely about the misuse of environmental laws to create a de facto wilderness (no people allowed) in the Yaak and every other area they can.

That’s their dirty little secret, which is becoming so very obvious. Even though all evidence dramatically shows that Scientific Forest Management closely emulates natural processes of fire while mitigating the more egregious effects of smoke, destruction of habitat and death of wild animals, these groups must deny it solely because of their goal of more wilderness.

To accomplish this, they continue to try to spread their disinformation like grizzly bears are afraid of roads, which is ridiculous; or that roads create more erosion than forest fires, which in and of themselves promote erosion by creating log jams in creeks which then flow wildly in completely new areas; or that logging imperils old growth timber when, in reality, it is fire that imperils it (I have watched their out-of-control fires completely burn down 400- to 500-year-old cedar trees without a word of protest, so let me remind these extremists of the facts: fires don’t care what they burn).

Or best yet, the “scientific” propaganda from the University of Oregon saying logging creates more carbon than fires, which is absolutely absurd (who believes any propaganda studies from our far-left universities any more anyway?).

But these far-left ecologists are terrified as well. Terrified that people are learning how much better our forests were managed when we harvested overgrown timber stands in a responsible manner; about the need for more roads which allow fire breaks and access to quickly put out fires; that our forests were much healthier 50 years ago and the residents of our counties weren’t subjected to loads of smoke in their lungs; and that we, the people of Montana can do a better job of managing our forests than politicians and/or bureaucrats from Washington D.C.; and finally, about the law of 1976 which actually demands sustained yield from our public forests.

More importantly, they are terrified as more and more of our leaders like the Lincoln County commissioners (and county residents) have become aware of their goal of a de facto wilderness; that we are all tired of their endless litigation; that we realize these extremists have misused and abused our environmental laws which is now leading to a groundswell of people calling for the dramatic modification of the ESA, NEPA and other similar laws and for the end of the use of the Equal Access to Justice Act.

No, the verdict is in: The current management plan for our forests has failed miserably and the health of our forests has degenerated ever since it was put in place 40 or 50 years ago.

It needs to be replaced using the proven principles of SFM. Wilderness areas can only be legally created through legislation not by extremists groups who misuse and abuse laws and our courts.

Thank you Lincoln County commissioners for taking your very well-reasoned public stand to inject some sanity into our forest management practices and for being a voice to recognize the fact that we, the residents of Montana’s northwest counties, can do a far better job of managing our forests. It would be nice if our Flathead County commissioners would be so brave.

— Mark Agather, Kalispell