[Bill Harsey]

Logging: Good or Bad for the Environment (Blademaster?)


Good question, First some interesting history, the people who study geology and plants back to the last ice ages have come to the conclusion that the forests in the Northwest have a long history of catastrophic stand replacing fires. In geological/biological studies it has been found that forests over 200 years old were very rare. Douglas Fir (Psuedotsuga Menziesii, for those of you who think I just drank my way thru college) grows best in full sunlight or has adapted to these conditions. This is the predominant tree in a climax forest in western Oregon. This is why the fastest reproduction of Douglas Fir is when the stand is clear cut. nature will clear cut it with fire if we don't. Don't take this as an arguement for over logging, it's not. I've always been in favor of smaller clear cut units in the woods. The interesting trick the environmental movement has pulled off is this: Environmentalists rail against the evils of corporate logging, then put many of the small private timber operators out of business thus turning control of the forest over to the biggest corporate multinational timber companies. Much of this was done under the watchful eye of Al Gore while he was VP, some heavy deals got cut under his watch.