Well the BLM is at it again and this time they've ignored popular opinion and outcry to allow logging of the old growth forests on Mt. Hood. Bastards. Bastards, bastards, bastards!
I know that this is a local issue and so, what can a New Yorker do? But I also know that we all know every bit makes a difference. If our pols get it through their damn skulls that old growth forests need to be protected no matter what, we might be ok.
Below the fold is an email alert I received yesterday; it's also online. Please make sure to share it with any Oregonians you know and let's use this as yet another excuse to bombard our congresscritters. Oooh!!! I'ma go talk to Wyden since they're all on vacation.
The action alert from Bark (join the organization - they do good stuff!)
asks that everybody write LTEs to the Oregonian, which has has actually been covering this story. I'd like to add a few more things to their list of talking points.
One is the question of the quality of a forest community; rows and rows of bradiata pine will never replace the ecological niche provided by an old-growth forest (known as a "climax community" to econerds). I'm being lazy with this diary and so won't go into heaps of detail here. But, basically, it takes a forest centuries to reach the climax stage; that we would even think of fulfilling superficial "needs" by destroying such an exquisite econiche is, well...it destroys my faith in humanity.
Which brings us to my second extra talking point: For the love of all that doesn't suck, !@#$%& legalize agricultural hemp already. All the toilet paper, paper towels, plates, etc. we could ever want and not a single tree need be harmed. Forests, old-growth or not, are a limited, finite resource: hemp, not so much. It can take a tree a decade to mature, whereas hemp is a practically infinitely renewable resource.
Another good point is that of global warming ; trees, especially in an old-growth forest community, with heaps of undergrowth species, provide a phenomenal carbon sink. I'm talking out my ass here, but I'd wager that one mature tree processes as much carbon as a whole bunch of saplings.
Blahblahblah...here's the email alert:
Dear Barker,
Bark just learned yesterday that logging has begun at the Eightmile Meadow Timber Sale (see photo to left). Despite public outcry over the proposal to clearcut 222 acres of forest adjacent to the popular Eightmile Trail, the Forest Service has demonstrated once again that timber comes first. Right now trails like Ramona Falls and Salmon River are inaccessible due to road failures and thousands of miles of unnecessary logging roads are damaging our watersheds -- yet the Forest Service is spending more money on logging! This backwards approach to managing our public forests was exposed in back-to-back articles in the Oregonian, "Cash infusion accelerates NW logging" and "BLM proposes major upswing in logging."
For more information about Eightmile Meadow and the tragic loss of these forests, please visit Bark's Timber Sale Database and click on Eightmile Meadow. Then, please join us for our monthly Bark-About this Sunday to Eightmile Meadow Timber Sale for a first-hand look at the ecological devastation being paid for with your tax dollars.
In the meantime, Bark needs you to speak up for Mt. Hood National Forest! Please take 10 minutes and send a letter to the editor of the Oregonian. A sample letter and talking points are below.
- Read the article by clicking here, then write your letter. Sample letter and talking points are below. Letters must be less than 150 words and are more likely to be printed if they are personal (don't just copy and paste), and timely (letters sent today are more likely to be printed than those sent Saturday).
- Send it in! Email your letter to letters@news.oregonian.com.
- Email Bark and let us know you sent it! Email a copy of your letter to alex@bark-out.org. This way we can keep track of how many get printed.
Additional talking points:
-Pick any activity that you enjoy (hiking, biking, camping, etc.) and write about why you would rather see the Forest Service spend money on that instead of more logging.
-Eightmile Meadow Timber Sale is a "Categorical Exclusion," meaning that it did not go through an environmental analysis. More "logging without looking" is planned for Mt. Hood with the increased funding.
-Over 2,200 clearcuts already scar Mt. Hood. Enough is enough! Logging Mt. Hood National Forest needs to stop, not be increased.
-4,000 miles of old logging roads crisscross Mt. Hood, damaging our drinking water and wildlife habitat. Removing unnecessary roads should be a priority.
-The Forest Service is spending our money on the Eightmile Timber Sale and nearly 10,000 more acres of logging. At the same time, roads to popular trails like Ramona Falls and Salmon River are closed because there is no money to repair them.
Thanks for reading, people. Let's see what we can't do!