Forests being plundered

The U.S. Forest Service-timber industry complex is using the tragedy of the largest forest fires in Washington’s history as a political expedient to log 54,000 acres of the Colville National Forest. The pretext is that this enormous destruction will make the forest more fire resistant, although, “There’s no evidence that thinning can stop fires,” according to Barry Rosenberg, as well as other authorities.

The Forest Service and timber industry have plundered the entire national forest system, causing more devastation to our forests, watersheds and wildlife than have forest fires, which have an essential role in the ecology and restoration of forests and don’t disfigure the mountainous beauty with ugly ubiquitous roads.

Their arrogant history of deforestation has played a major role in the global warming crisis and in the greatest extinction rate the civilized world has ever known. So-called thinning will ruin critical wildlife habitat and watersheds, desecrate the forest’s loveliness and release tremendous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere; accelerating global warming, the cause of severe fire conditions, including drought, high temperatures, low humidity and winds.

While the fires rage on and the Forest Service-timber industry complex deceives the nation in order to log our forests, whatever the costs.

Frederick Bardelli

Osburn, Idaho