I read with great interest Susan Fletcher’s article in the June 8 issue on management and sustainable use of the national forestlands here in WNC [“Taking the Long View: Increased Logging Will Benefit Our National Forests,” Xpress]. As a recent retiree of the national forest’s headquarters, now translocated to Maggie Valley, I can say that that she was spot on.
Forest Service plans are not without controversy on management schemes, and there has certainly been a shift away from extraction uses like timbering. Gifford Pinchot himself pinned it many decades ago in declaring that he doubted that future foresters would truly understand the diverse ecosystems of the Southern Appalachian Mountains in their management decisions. I look forward to reviewing more detail on the plan elements and how they can affect the community here.
— Mike Kaczor
Maggie Valley
And I quote from the deep missive above… “As a recent retiree of the national forest’s headquarters, now translocated to Maggie Valley, I can say that that she was spot on.” All I can say is…. God save us… and our native forests…. from the timber extractors and their ludicrous -or in this particular case- sparse to the point of nothing- plans to log our forest in order to “restore their health”. Please, enough, okay? No one except the co-opted (and the just completely out of it) are buying into this foolishness.
I ignore anyone who uses the word ‘translocated’ in such a way.
Young, vigorously growing trees fix a LOT more CO2 than do geriatric trees. The carbon in trees harvested for lumber can remain fixed for decades or centuries. ALL trees that are not harvested eventually succumb to fire, pest infestation, or simply old age. Leaving dead or dying trees in the forest facilitates the development of forest fires that are near uncontrollable as is sadly COMMON in California (but not in Oregon where sane forest management is understood and practiced). Whether a tree burns or rots all of the carbon that was fixed in the tree is released as CO2 in a period of just a few years.
And let me guess…. you have zero understanding of how a regrown cut section of Douglas fir or Ponderosa pine burns at 4-5 times the rate of an uncut mature section…. of course you don’t. And go look at the recent aftermath of a very large fire that went up Curtis Creek this past spring… the mature trees in that “unmanaged forest” didn’t even burn… per usual… only the undergrowth. But then again, the difference between an eastern deciduous broad leaf forest… and a western conifer forest… well, you’ll have to come to terms with that too in regard to all sorts of differing parameters …including “managed” vs “unmanaged” …so very complicated for you I would imagine. And of course, you also have absolutely no concept of the water quality coming out of uncut forest vis a vis a cut over section. …or biodiversity flora and fauna count levels, oui? Bottom line is this, when it comes to carbon cycles- -“burning” vs “rotting”- your kindergarten schematic of it is utterly dead on arrival… you went to one of our finer public universities, yes? But then again, no amount of basic biology can take hold in an empty vessel… be it a clear cut, or well, you know.
Wow, how unkind and rude. Shameful treatment of your neighbor.
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Well said, Mike. And yes, Pinchot was right. Forestry management will be very poorly received by many, perhaps most, in Buncombe county simply because of the emotions that the topic elicits.
Working forests provide jobs for Americans, while also providing carbon storage and wildlife habitat.
“Working forests” (..it sounds ridiculous to even repeat it) provide minimal jobs for Americans… other than our western National Forests that have been “worked” over so badly that 90plus percent of them are now nothing short of extremely large tinder tracts waiting to burn…. surely you’ve seen the thousands of -employed- fire crews fighting them. Susan Fletcher’s severely co-opted arguments for logging remain, well, completely spot-off. Gifford Pinchot was of another time and place… one that we unfortunately will never see the likes of again… what with our almost 8 billion fellow inhabitants. sigh.