Letters To The Editor

FORESTS AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Boise Cascade justifiably proud

In response to Adam J. Larson (Sept. 28): Well, Mr. Pagan, I work for Boise Cascade and am proud of it. I don’t just sit in my easychair and read about what Boise Cascade does; I see it for myself. I live in the Northwest and use the woods, so I see what Boise Cascade does firsthand, not by taking a Sunday drive along some highway.

Larson stated that, after 200 years of human management, we have reduced America’s forests to around 5 percent of the original area, and that last 5 percent is slipping fast. Growth in our national forests has exceeded harvest every year since the 1950s. Annual growth now exceeds harvest by 60 percent. Only about 30 percent of the total national forest system is open to harvesting.

Furthermore, national forests in Oregon and Washington contain 6.2 million acres of old-growth timber. A total of 69 percent, some 4.2 million acres, has been set aside in areas where harvesting is forbidden or otherwise reserved.

Yes, Boise Cascade and similar companies are in business to make money. Who isn’t? I believe Boise Cascade’s goal is to dependably supply timber to our mills and at the same time protect or enhance the forest system. I also believe Boise Cascade cares for its employees, otherwise I wouldn’t work for it. It has shown it cares. Boise Cascade accepts responsibility for the forest and environmental results.

The next time you read a full-page ad in the newspaper, believe it. It is not misleading. Cliff Robinson Kettle Falls, Wash.

Sellout of our lands nothing new

Congressional Republicans’ efforts to “politicize” management of public lands are a repeat of history.

About 100 years ago, Congress virtually gave away the Northwest’s best timber lands special interests - railroads and timber companies. In short order, these former public lands were clearcut, mismanaged and diverted from timber production. Politicians then had to open the remaining public lands to timber interests just to keep the sawmills running. Industrial forestry based on economic factors was practiced on public lands.

We have all seen clearcuts with the little signs that read “managed forest” or “these over-ripe trees were harvested in the interest of public safety.”

In the 1960s, Congress passed laws to stop these destructive practices. Nobody obeyed because the forest service was controlled by pro-business political appointees. Remember the taxpayer-subsidized timber harvest and subsidized raw log exports to Japan, when the rate of deforestation in the Northwest was one of the highest in the world? That was good economics, according to Congress.

How can we return to political management of the public lands when the electoral process and agenda of Congress is controlled by rich, powerful special interest groups? Why are they cutting funds for necessary scientific studies to determine sustainable harvest levels? Sid Stephens Sagle, Idaho

USFS right to stand its ground

Plum Creek Timber Co. unloaded land because the public outcry would be too great if it logged it. (“Cedar swap knotty deal,” 1 Oct.) The Forest Service doesn’t want it for the same reason.

Now, Marc Brinkmeyer is trying to make the Forest Service look like the bad guy because it doesn’t want to trade 2,800 acres for 520 acres. Who’s the bad guy here? Russ Carrier Sagle, Idaho

GOVERNING SPOKANE

Charter ‘a scary document’

It’s a simple matter for an uninformed person to read The Spokesman-Review, then sagely nod and say, “This must be so because it’s in the newspaper.” The printed word sends a powerful message, but not always a truthful one.

It’s a simple matter for an informed person to read these same words and say, “This is wrong! How can they print this when they know it’s not so?”

Of course, no one knows everything, but I’ve been on the firing line of community issues such as Valley incorporation and now opposition to the consolidated charter that’s being promoted with unlimited funding and unlimited media coverage. Believe me, I know consolidation will be devastating to the unincorporated sections of Spokane County. It would benefit no one but the Spokane powermongers and downtown businesses.

What I say holds true for every county resident and business beyond Spokane’s city limits.

We will pay a utility tax. We will assume our share of Spokane’s $600 million debt. We will again be liable for the Gypsy lawsuit. We will be under the dominion of a Spokane elected council and its appointed department heads. No matter what they say about equal representation, your district will have one member on this council; Spokane will have six. We will assume our share of $20 million in additional taxes every year so that county wages can be brought up to Spokane levels.

Please, read the charter. It’s a scary document. Then join us and help defeat this ill-conceived scheme to raise our taxes and destroy our communities. Ed Meadows Spokane

Parks, services will take a hit

The idea of a county charter is a good one. However, the one proposed by the freeholders is seriously flawed in many areas. One of the most serious areas has to do with parks. City residents should consider very carefully what would happen if the charter passes.

The city has a fairly well-maintained park system while the county has periodically been forced to ignore and even close some of its facilities. One thrust of the charter will be to combine the two systems.

People who use Manito, Franklin, Cannon, Mission or any of the other city parks need to realize the funds and personnel that currently maintain those places will be stretched to the outer county parks.

City residents will pay the same taxes for less service. Those outside the city may well see an increase in their costs, but the services, though better, will still not approach what the city currently provides.

A second area of concern for city residents should be snow plowing. You need not wonder why your street is not drivable; the plow is busy doing county roads.

Be sure you understand what is at stake in November. The attempt to level out service to all county residents will not bring unincorporated services up to city standards, but will bring city services down to county standards. Chris Carlile Spokane

THE MEDIA

Un-covered events work better

An ever-recurring problem in addressing environmental issues is the emotionalism that takes precedence over the truth. It is not OK to lie or exaggerate to make your point. It should stand on its own in the shining light of truth.

In talking with some preservationists at a rally in Lewiston on Oct. 6, we found we could communicate a lot better without the media present. There was no jockeying for position for the sound bites, no cute little costumes to delight the cameras and, as near as I could tell, no playing loose with the truth to make a point.

The media would not have printed or filmed anything we said or did because there was no yelling or rioting involved, just a good airing of our mutual concerns and ideas about how to accomplish the tasks of providing the much-needed resources and protecting our environment at the same time. A bit old fashioned and even boring to some, but very informative just the same.

It is a shame we can’t get the media to cover these important conversations. The problem is that conflict, not agreement, makes news. Gary M. Garrison Kettle Falls, Wash.

Dig wasn’t worthy of victim, paper

Please print shorter editorials, rather than filling them with 121 words of fictionalized, sound bite lead-in, like John Webster did on Oct. 1 regarding affordable housing.

Webster printed an anecdote that was not only unbelievable on its face but was one he quickly could have verified as being false.

In the process, he gratuitously insulted career women, social workers (portrayed as mild-mannered, sexually-biased incompetents) and hundreds of members of the Spokane Junior League.

It is ironic for him to point the paper’s giant mocking finger at the Junior League of Spokane, a group which founded Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and SCAN, last year renovated a portion of the Transitional Living Center, and the building next to Ogden Hall for use as a play area by those families, currently conducts a reading enrichment program at Ogden Hall and assists with the respite care center for homeless children at the YWCA.

We have only one newspaper in our town. It would be nice if we could believe what the editors write. Particularly on the editorial page, which should be a forum for reasoned discourse on issues facing the community, we should be able to trust that the editors will be honest with their readers. The paper has an obligation to maintain a reputation of integrity. Robert H. Douthitt Spokane

Dean remembrance a good idea

Re: the Oct. 1 James Dean article (“New hometown park cultivates memory of rebel”). It’s a very good idea to finally salute such a wonderful actor who died too young. Having this park in his name in a way brings Dean back to life and back into the hearts of people who loved him. I wasn’t around when he was alive, but I love his movies and his rebel ways, as we put it. That was, of course, just acting. It wasn’t the real Dean that his family knew. Deborah Bown Spokane