The recent editorial by syndicated columnist Thomas D. Elias
(who appears weekly in the Free Lance), titled
”
Peace in the Woods is a Possibility
”
offers a good perspective on the current politics of old-growth
preservation in California.
Dear Editor:
The recent editorial by syndicated columnist Thomas D. Elias (who appears weekly in the Free Lance), titled “Peace in the Woods is a Possibility” offers a good perspective on the current politics of old-growth preservation in California. Mr. Elias is right on the mark in suggesting that the passage of the Heritage Tree Preservation Act (SB 754/Perata) could go a long way toward “softening” the current conflict over saving the last of California’s big, old trees.
Mr. Elias quotes Tom Nelson of Sierra Pacific Industries, the largest private landowner in California, saying “We think we do well in managing our forests.” Well, as one former president might have said, that depends on what the definition of “well” is.
The state of California was blessed with over twenty million acres of native primary forests that remained intact for thousands of years. Ninety-seven percent have been cut down in just a little over a century. Those forests support a biodiversity equal to any ecosystem in the world. They also filter our air and water, stabilizing our hillsides and providing incomparable aesthetic values.
In the idiom of loggers, this kind of decimation may be called “good management.” But to anyone with the ability to weigh true costs and benefits, it’s downright goofy.
Mr. Nelson also offers that enforcement of SB 754 would require “put[ting] a bore through almost every tree we cut to check not only its diameter, but its age.” Assuming that Mr. Nelson, as a director of forest policy, knows his trees, this is hogwash. Boring is never used to determine diameter since a tape measure works just fine. In terms of age, professionals should usually be able to tell an old-growth tree from a second- or third-growth tree without resorting to boring.
Mr. Nelson goes on to claim that this measure “sure wouldn’t help the lumber business.” The truth is that it wouldn’t hurt it either. Old-growth trees protected under this measure are less than one-half of one percent of the trees currently growing on nonfederal forestland in California. If the lumber business is truly in such bad shape, perhaps it’s time to begin building with other materials.
Dan Hamburg,
Ukiah
