LETTERS
THE
CONTROVERSY IN THE NATIONAL FOREST
The never
ending debate continues on the National Forest lands
between the tree huggers and the forest industry. One
group wants trees to cut; the other trees to look at. The
latest proposal is to create roadless areas that would
make land inaccessible to timber harvesting. Now I'm no
Roads Scholar but I think both sides can get most of what
they want. The National Forest is mandated to "keep
everyone happy" which is an impossible goal;
therefore they spend lots of time going round and round
with not much of an outcome being accomplished.
The much used term, wilderness, is in the eye of the
beholder. Many wilderness advocates have joined the
"cause" because it seemed like a good thing to
do at the time. Many have not been into the woods more
than 100 yards off their back lawn. Using Vermont as an
example; the beautiful mountains here have been cut, cut,
and cut again. Huge clearcuts and forest fires have
affected thousands and thousands of acres over the past
two centuries; and we still have beautiful mountains. Yes,
many forest practices of the past, including the National
Forests, did not follow the many guidelines and laws
which exist today.
I suggest rotating our "wilderness areas" along
with timber harvesting in the productive areas (thousands
of acres are unproductive and timber harvesting does not
take place anyway). If a thirty year cutting cycle were
used, many undisturbed years of wilderness would exist.
You may laugh and I'll laugh with you. The Lye Brook
"Wilderness" Area, where man has never been (some
think), was clearcut in 1918 and the timber removed by 16
miles of the Rich Lumber Co. Railroad. Much of the trail
to the "Falls" follows this railbed! Today
storms have blown down many valuable, mature, timber
trees that hikers have to crawl over as they slowly rot (a
chain saw is not allowed under any circumstance).
Humans naturally react to visual change such as logging
but also including building and personal appearance. When
a human has their hair done or beard shaved it is noticed
just as a white house painted blue, or a vacant field
with a new structure in it. These visual changes are
noticed by all and spoken about. In a few months the
novelty starts to wane and within a year or two the
visual changes are all but forgotten.
Timber is a
valuable, renewable resource that is used by all of
society. Let's not waste this resource and keep the
forests, and forest industry, healthy and productive for
generations to come. YOU CAN HAVE A TREE AND CUT
IT TOO!!!
The Paul
Bunyan Tooth Pick Company has been experiencing
wet conditions for its logging operations in
Beartown this season. In order to get back on
schedule it is necessary to either have more
trucks or bigger loads. Bigger loads are more
economical for our company and we will be
puchasing some new trucks in the very near future.
So, don't be alarmed if you see one of these
monster trucks coming down the road. They are
brand new and very safe, in fact if you have a
compact car they can straddle you with plenty of
clearance to spare (It will just seem like you
drove through a tunnel.).
LOG ON TO
OUR WEBSITE FOR DAILY UPDATES wwwwwwwww.paulbunyantoothpickcompany.log
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HAPPY MOTORING
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