Give & Take

Environmentalists and the timber industry have found some common ground in their debate over tree harvesting. Everyone agrees the ecologically sensitive land at Cougar Bay on Lake Coeur d’Alene needs to be preserved. The question is: How significant is this small step toward compromise?

The following are three views.

By KJ Hackworthy

Since the Nature Conservancy’s mission is to “preserve plants, animals and the natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive,” working to ensure healthy forests is a natural part of our mission.

John Sawhill, president of The Nature Conservancy, recently wrote: “The Conservancy cannot hope to acquire and set aside forests on the scale necessary to conserve biodiversity for the long term. Rather, we must find ways to engage the owners of America’s working forests — from private landowners of small woodlots to multi-national timber giants — in productive partnerships that meet their needs for economic return while meeting the Conservancy’s desire for intact, healthy ecosystems.”

Through these partnerships, the Conservancy can help promote compatible forestry — the long-term, ecologically sensitive management of forests. Compatible forestry projects come in several forms, ranging from testing sustainable forestry techniques, to using timber harvest as a restoration tool, to preserving large tracts of land.

Sometimes the capital generated on one forest provides funds for protecting another, more ecologically sensitive forest. Other times an agreement is made with a timber company to allow harvest in one area in exchange for observing harvest restrictions elsewhere. Through a new approach called forest banking, the Conservancy hopes to protect the ecological function of forests while helping landowners receive income. In forest banking, a timberland owner exchanges their timber rights for guaranteed annual payments. Their timber then is collectively managed with other timberland by forestry experts.

A close-to-home example of how timber and conservation interests can work together is found at the Cougar Bay Preserve on Lake Coeur d’Alene. The preserve property previously was owned by Crown Pacific, a forest products company that sold it to the Conservancy for a bargain sale price. Part of the property was selectively harvested and now provides an example of how ecologically sensitive timber harvest can maintain quality wildlife habitat.

While there are recognizable trade-offs with compatible forestry, the underlying goal is that through careful timberland management, fragmentation of the landscape can be reduced and our nation’s forests will sustainably provide for future generations, both economically and ecologically.

KJ Hackworthy works in the Hayden Lake office of The Nature Conservancy of Idaho.

By Buell Hollister

The longstanding conflict between the environmental community and the timber industry over forest management practices has been distracting and confusing to the general public.

We at the Kootenai Environmental Alliance welcome and applaud any effort to constructively address this polarization to find a footing on common ground from which a wider agreement might be achieved. Given the fundamental, and apparently intractable, philosophical difference between these two forces, resolution will not come easily.

Unlike the majority in the timber industry, environmentalists place values on forests that transcend wood fiber production.

Ecological equilibrium promotes harmonious interaction between the components of a vital forest — bugs, birds, fungi, a wide spectrum of animal species, mixed ages and species of trees leads to long term, sustainable production. Good biology is good economics.

Environmentalists are concerned that over half of the forests, including 95 percent old growth, intact with the founding of the U.S., are gone.

That the world is losing 27 million acres of forest canopy every year.

This loss plays a significant role in the accumulation of global warming carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

A healthy, growing tree will take up 20 inches of precipitation annually. When watershed slopes are overcut, flooding, as in 1996-97, occurs.

Of course, we at KEA are happy that Crown Pacific sold its logged-over timberland to the Nature Conservancy for a wildlife conservation area.

However, laudable as it may appear, we feel something more tangible than this gesture is necessary to indicate a willingness to meet environmentalists half way.

The industry has been an eager and active participant in the organized effort to create an image of environmentalists as “extremists” bent on destroying the American way of life.

They have used their financial resources to influence legislation favoring their interests. We want more than their slick timber industry TV ads presenting themselves as environmentally conscious stewards of their forest lands.

KEA likes to recognize and honor good work. If any timber company can demonstrate to our forest watch committee that they consistently practice enlightened timber management, we will acknowledge and cheer their good work.

Buell Hollister of Post Falls is president of the Kootenai Environmental Alliance.

By Tom Richards

The recent deal between Crown Pacific and the Nature Conservancy to preserve a portion of Cougar Bay is an encouraging symbol of a new willingness to cooperate, on the part of environmentalists and the timber industry.

Having worked in the timber industry and done volunteer work for the Conservancy, I’ve been able to explore this cooperation from both sides. What this deal represents truly is the discovery of a common agenda between a timber company and a conservation organization.

There’s an important distinction between this ability to develop a common agenda and a compromise. The history of relations between the timber industry and the environmental community is one of confrontation and compromise but rarely agreement.

Environmentalists compromise by accepting wilderness boundaries smaller than they believe necessary, and the industry does the same thing by accepting boundaries larger than they believe justified. This process highlights the differences between the two sides and inevitably leads to more conflict. Cougar Bay represents a step in a new direction.

Crown Pacific and the Nature Conservancy both will be able to further their goals through this deal. Crown Pacific has local sawmills that need a steady supply of timber, and the Conservancy’s goals include the protection of important wildlife habitat. Crown Pacific sold its land to the Nature Conservancy at far below market value, but this is an example of good citizenship rather than a concession or compromise.

Crown will continue to be able to use adjacent pieces of land to supply local sawmills. The Nature Conservancy has adopted a nationwide goal of finding ways to demonstrate forest management that is both economically and environmentally sound. Cougar Bay gives them a high visibility piece of land to showcase their commitment to this principle. This project does not require any sacrifice in the quality of habitat for osprey, eagles, waterfowl or wetland plants, and thus allows the Conservancy to achieve its goals.

The strength of this new approach is that it moves away from the all-too-familiar pattern of conflict and compromise. By its very nature, compromise leaves both parties dissatisfied. By looking for a common agenda, the industry and the environmental community can craft agreements that both can believe in.

Future improvements will be based on finding better ways to achieve common goals, rather than one party finding a way to get more of what they want at someone else’s expense.

Tom Richards is pursuing a teaching certificate. His family owns Idaho Forest Industries.