It is unfortunate that the recent guest commentary by Ron Smith (“Dispelling some myths about forest plan,” Aug. 28) failed so many times to get it right on both the myth and the fact.
If you care about school funding, healthy forests and salmon recovery, here’s a story for you. Imagine this…
You are part owner of more than a million acres of forest in Western Washington. Over the past hundred years, the people in charge of managing your land have made such short-sighted choices that they themselves now admit more than half your forest is unhealthy. Now the head manager of your land comes to you with a new 10-year plan, claiming it will place Washington at the forefront of innovative forestry and ecosystem management. But then you read the details. You’re angry: The plan calls for extensive clearcuts, extensive logging near streams, and his own foresters say that after 10 years of this plan, your forests will be just as unhealthy as they are today!
Unfortunately, this story is not make-believe. It could come true on Tuesday – unless citizens across Washington speak out for a different ending to the story.
The Board of Natural Resources, led by Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland, is poised to approve its “Sustainable Harvest Calculation” for more than a million acres of public forest lands in Washington. The name sounds pleasant, but the result will be clearcuts, silted streams and unhealthy forests.
Here are the details they are not talking about. The plan will increase logging in state forests by at least 30 percent, with 80 percent of it being in heavy logging and clearcuts. According to the state’s own figures, a decade from now 63 percent of our state forests will be unhealthy – the same alarming percentage as today. Another detail: The plan does not commit to protecting the very small amount of ancient forest left in Washington.
Hundreds of people during the past three years have encouraged the state to make a different decision. This new vision is one of true sustainability through certification of our forest.
Certification would better protect water and wildlife, improve the health of our state forests, and still generate millions of dollars for building schools. The idea is simple. If improved logging methods were adopted, state forests could become certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), similar to the way certification for organic farming works. Certification ensures consumers that the lumber they are buying comes from sustainable forests.
The Board of Natural Resources, led by Commissioner Sutherland, has refused to include FSC certification as part of its new plan. This seems particularly absurd because nearly all the work has already been done to get our state forests certified. Our state forests have been inspected and specific logging improvements have been identified by the same organization that has already certified publicly-owned forests in eight other states across the country.
Here’s what FSC certification means: common-sense logging, such as no more cutting of old-growth trees. Despite hundreds of public comments, support from local businesses, and editorials in the state’s two largest papers urging support for certification, the board did not even consider FSC certification as one of the six options they analyzed for the new forest plan.
Board members have not revealed why they wouldn’t consider certification, but it is clear that the plan they’re poised to approve on Tuesday takes Washington in the opposite direction. While the board and Commissioner Sutherland talk about sustainability and improved forestry, the “new” plan is just more of the same. More clearcuts. More logging near streams. And 10 years down the road, 63 percent of our forests will still be unhealthy.
The good news is that political decisions out of step with public values can be changed. With a large public outcry, these decision-makers can avoid making a short-sighted choice that would have dismal consequences for our forests, our wildlife and our schools.
The tens of thousands of members of our two organizations believe in a positive future. A future where our state forests are sustainably logged. Where our water and wildlife are protected and where citizens can buy lumber that we can feel proud of – Washington-grown lumber that is FSC-certified.
Together, we can convince the board to move beyond the outdated “get-the-wood-out” mentality that resulted in today’s unhealthy forests. Come to Olympia and stand up for your forests. More information is on the web at www.wecprotects.org. Help make this a story with a happy ending.
Joan Crooks is executive director of Washington Environmental Council (www.wecprotects.org). Debbi Edelstein is executive director of Audubon Washington (www.wa.audubon.org/new/audubon).
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