I consider that article to be classic forestry propaganda. It used to be that the wood industry would say, "we must cut the timber for a growing economy". Now, they wised up and tell people, "we must cut the timber because doing so is fabulous ecological work- and in fact, the very best way to do it is to clearcut it- this species must be clearcut". No, it doesn't say that in the article, but I know how to read between the lines. They need to destroy it to save it. Clearcut it to save it. This brilliant eco presentation so common across the country has convinced countless naive people, including leaders of many major enviro groups. Yuh, doesn't this stand look much better now that it's been clearcut to regenerate it?
Of course somebody could say, why regenerate it? Is it really, really, really necessary to clearcut it in order to harvest some of it over an extended period? Many species are said to be clearcut dependent- then we find out later, that's not true- such as a fellow named Wilkinson out west who has managed his own Doug Fir forest for several decades without clearcutting. Here in the Northeast, we're told we need to clearcut red oak- which is a big fat lie. We are also told we need to clearcut red pine in Massachusetts because it's not native- another big fat lie, not only is it native, it doesn't need clearcutting. And, we're told that we must clearcut Norway spruce to rid the state of this vile foreign species, yes, the state actually wrote "foreign species" in one of its recent brochures. I say never believe anyone who works for the wood industry without a great deal of research. Ed., I like your skepticism regarding the state of NJ. If NJ is anything like the state of Mass.- don't believe a word they say. I also like your skepticism of green certification- which is without a doubt a huge scam designed to fool naive folks that rapacious logging is a wonderful thing. Amazing! Joe ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Frank To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 2:06 PM Subject: [ENTS] Re: Atlantic white cedar Russ, Thank you for posting the link. It is an interesting and informative article. It is written from a forest management perspective and is strongly anti-preservationist. There is nothing wrong with that. Different people have different perspectives. The main argument is that with proper management harvesting the white cedar forests would pay for their own preservation and protect their future as a timber producing species. I am sure that is correct as far as an economic analysis goes. My big concern is whether or not proper forest management would prevail, when the profits are short term and management would require a long term commitment. I know in the coal strip mining industry in PA, this often was not the case. The operators would be required to post a "reclamation" bond designed to assure the land surface would be restored after mining. The bond was typically a lesser amount than was actually needed to reclaim the surface, in particular when through poor practices acid mine drainage was created. Treatment of AMD required a long term commitment of money. Many times, over and over again, a mining company would dissolve after mining an area and forfeit its bond, because it was cheaper to do that than pay for restoration. Then in the next mining application the same people would be running a new coal company with different name and slightly altered organizational structure. Since this was different new company their application could not be denied based upon past performance, since legally they did not have any bad past performance history. If the area of white cedar forests are limited, my concern is that they would be cut, and the operators would bail before spending the money to do the proper replanting and maintenance to assure regeneration of the cedar forest. In the authors opinion"The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Parks and Forestry, has been forward thinking with regards to the Atlantic white cedar resource." I am not sure what that means - are they really doing a good job and are forward thinking, or are they simply lapdogs for the forest industry? The article states there is a best management practices manual for logging Atlantic white cedar. I would like to see an evaluation of the manual by an independent reviewer who could judge whether it is a good plan or a gift to the forest industry by their political buddies. I am in favor of developing partnerships between industry and government that allows profit to the forestry industry and sustains the resource. I also want to be assured that some of the forests will be preserved unaltered for use by the general public and for future generation, and not given away for a quick one time profit. I know there are good people in the forestry industry striving to do a good job, but so many areas have been ravaged by unscrupulous people out for a quick buck, that I must question veracity of these types of plans. Green certification for example, seems often to just mean a "green" light for the loggers to do whatever they want. What enforceable assurances are there, that even if these best management plans are good, that they will actually be followed? Ed Join me at the Primal Forests - Ancient Trees Community at: http://primalforests.ning.com/ ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 14, 2009 1:03 PM Subject: [ENTS] Atlantic white cedar ENTS: There has been some discussion on Atlantic white cedar in past posts. I just came across a recent article on the trees and thought some might find it interesting. The article is a pdf document and can be accessed at https://www.sawmillmag.com/index.php Russ Richardson ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inauguration '09: Get complete coverage from the nation's capital. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org You are subscribed to the Google Groups "ENTSTrees" group. 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