Earlier this year large and small forest landowners collaborated with 13 environmental organizations under the auspices of Governor Brown to develop the unprecedented Private Forest Accord. As previously posted legislators and the media view the PFA as ending the Timber Wars.
Not surprisingly, environmental activists Oregon Wild, a signatory to the PFA, is already announcing that the landmark agreement for changes to Oregon’s Forest Practices Act are just the beginning of changes they want.
In a message to supporters Oregon Wild states “while the PFA is critically important for endangered wildlife - it is not a comprehensive solution to some of the other consequences of industrial forestry.” The activists wanted their supporters to tell the Board of Forest at an October meeting that “there are plenty of steps left to go to protect communities and the climate and to push Oregon toward a truly sustainable timber industry.”
Longtime observers of environmental activists’ insatiable appetite to destroy the Timber Industry aren’t the least bit surprised by Oregon Wild’s position, instead it is another example of their inability to accept yes for an answer…
Yep. Saw it coming big time. “Sustainable” is a pretty word whose definition seems to lie in the moment with the user. It no longer applies as a traditional forestry term where harvest and growth rates are in equilibrium. The Accord opens the door to state and federal oversight on private ownership, bringing with it all the attendant legal rampways to litigation these public agencies have endured. The PFA will be the private equivalent of NEPA. I’ll never understand that decision.
ReplyDeleteThere must be some way to reverse this government overreach that was somehow negotiated behind closed doors by Portland and Eugene environmentalists and forest industry beneficiaries. This wouldn't have happened 30 years ago and shouldn't be happening now.
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