George Wuerthner: Black Ram — more chainsaw medicine - Missoulian

The Kootenai National Forest proposes a monolithic logging task successful Northwest Montana known arsenic the Black Ram “Vegetation” treatment.

The Black Ram task country includes Northwest Yaak from the Canadian borderline westbound to the Idaho border, southbound to the ridge enactment betwixt Pete Creek, and eastbound to the Yaak River.

Note the usage of the euphemism "treatment" for logging. The bureau ever sees the wood arsenic sick and needing a steadfast dose of chainsaw medicine.

They asseverate that they privation to amended resilience and absorption to insects, disease, and fire. However, notwithstanding insects, disease, and occurrence support steadfast wood ecosystems, the Forest Service Industrial Forestry paradigm sees these earthy agents arsenic thing to destruct oregon reduce.

Chainsaw medicine is similar the magic elixir the old-time snake lipid salesman utilized to promote. Chainsaw medicine cures everything and galore things that don’t request fixing.

So fto maine get this straight. The bureau claims if they don’t log the forest, trees “may” dice from insects, disease, oregon fire. So the mode to forestall this decease is to termination the trees with chainsaws. Does anyone different than maine spot immoderate disconnect successful logic here?

Other rationales for Black Ram are conscionable arsenic ludicrous. The FS claims that the Black Ram timber merchantability will, among different justifications, assistance grizzly carnivore recovery. The Cabinet Yaak grizzly colonisation endurance is 1 of the astir tenuous successful the country.

So the FS wants to use chainsaw medicine to the grizzly situation to summation huckleberries.

No uncertainty determination whitethorn beryllium much huckleberries, but huckleberries are not limiting grizzly carnivore betterment successful the area. The main occupation for bears is road access and the precocious quality morality associated with them.

The Black Ram task volition make astir a 100 miles of unfastened roads (90 miles of reconstructed roads and 5.5 miles of caller roads). This roading is what volition harm grizzlies arsenic good arsenic different wildlife similar elk. What they each request much than thing is information cover. Chainsaw medicine provides none.

The Yaak Valley is already fragmented by past logging. Logging of the Black Ram country volition further fragment the scenery and destruct the fewer remaining earthy corridors.

The FS asserts that the Black Ram logging task volition mitigate clime warming. Yet, logging and wood products accumulation releases a tremendous magnitude of carbon. In Oregon, for instance, logging is the astir important root of Greenhouse Gas Emissions successful the full authorities — much than each the car, airplane, and motortruck emissions.

Cutting immoderate aged maturation volition trim the c retention of the area. Research by Bev Law of Oregon State University has shown that ample trees proceed to store c passim their lives. So logging the wood doesn’t assistance clime warming-it worsens it.

Even if trees dice from beetles oregon fire, they stay on-site, storing carbon. Carbon is stored successful the soil, snags, and wood.

To adhd insult to injury, The Forest Service estimates taxpayers volition suffer $3.2 cardinal subsidizing this deforestation.

The Black Ram task exemplifies the agency’s committedness to deforestation and ecosystem degradation. We should expect and request amended policies from the agency.