Rotten forest plan

The Clearwater Basin Collaborative has laid their golden egg, the Clear Creek Integrated Restoration Project. Inside the egg is a timber sale that could log between 62 million to 85 million board feet of timber in the Clear Creek drainage on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. This single project is about twice the volume of timber that currently comes off both national forests in two years.

When holding the egg you will see that it is comparable in size to the infamous Cove-Mallard timber sales of the 1990s. Rotate the egg and find that it proposes to log in a watershed that doesn’t appear to be meeting watershed standards, nor does the data clearly show an upward trend.

Further rotation of the egg will show that old growth will be “treated” and clear-cuts or “openings” will checker the landscape. Final rotation of the egg will reveal that twice the amount of roads will be built than removed. All of this is conveniently labeled “restoration” in the collaborative circle.

Now try and eat the egg. If the odor causes you to gag and drop the egg on the floor, don’t worry. It turns out the egg is rotten after all.

Brett Haverstick

Moscow