Tongass National Forest policy in Alaska (Craig, Metlakatla: homes, unemployment, contractors)

[caliguy92832]

Tongass is a big forest. Its the largest national forest in the US.

[Barkingowl]

Originally Posted by caliguy92832

Tongass is a big forest. Its the largest national forest in the US.

Really? I never knew that.

[caliguy92832]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

Really? I never knew that.

I think its like 15,000,000 acres or something.

[Metlakatla]

Also--the pro logging mantra always touts "jobs".

I can remember when the road from Hollis to Klawock was literally lined with trailers with people actually living in them with no water, no sewer, with children and dogs, all to tke a monetary bite out of the Tongass and stuff it in a carpetbag before they turned tale and went back south. They pretty much trashed the place too. The Prince did a photo essay a couple of summers ago on the subject of the garbage they left behind.

The cultural impact of the latest logging boom was basically detrimental to the communities of the island...sure, a few of them, but only a very few, fell in love with the place and stayed. But most of them contributed nothing much beyond making the owner of the Hill Bar even more wealthy.

Oregon State U. did some good research on the foresting practices in the Tongass--can't pull it up right now because it's on my other laptop.

Another 100 degree day here....goodnight everyone.

[Beenaroundabit]

Forest Circus has two large facilities on POW, one in Craig and one at Thorne Bay with parking lots fulla new vehicles, boats, and many year-round employees at taxpayers expense and they do very little...

Sorry, but gotta disagree on this one. I worked with MANY Forest Service employees in AK and they did not "do very little", but worked very hard, for an agency about which opinions are definitely very polarized (at least in AK, anyway). Many of them could have had higher paying gigs in the private sector, but chose to work for the Forest Serviceinstead.

The gov't is the gov't, with plenty of red tape and backwards practices. No denying that. But it's usually because we have to try to make EVERYone happy simultaneously, which is never gonna happen. However, I certainly wouldn't disparage individual government employees who don't deserve it, especially without proof.

Parking lot full of new vehicles and boats? Gotta call BS on that unless you want to show us a photo of some GOV plates, because there is currently NO natural resource agency in the federal governmet that has surplus dollars to spend on new gear that they don't use - we have to beg and borrow for every penny. And even then, you have ZERO clue where that equipment might be headed for or who it really belongs to (i.e. which agency; just because it's in a USDA lot doesn't mean it's USDA property).

If you're angry at he government and want to make a point, you should do so with evidence; not with random photos, obviously-biased statements and simple assumptions. If you think your taxpayer dollars are being "wasted," be revolutionary about it and offer a solution instead of pointing a finger, like every other person who seems to hate the government is so fond of doing.

[Sarkar]

Well...its certainly easy to be a Seattleite and put your spin on this... spin is all you've offered btw...

Have you been to Prince of Wales recently...simple YES or NO wil be fine

Have you been to either the Forest Circus at Craig or or over in Thorne Bay recently....simple YES or NO will be fine

Stay Tuned....got plenty of recent pictures for ya

"RANDOM PICTURES"... HARDLY....ALL RECENT Prince of Wales of so-called "timber harvest"...

[Sarkar]

The timber industry is on its lips for many good reasons.....mismanagement by the Forest Circus and very poor industry-wide logging practices are just a couple of them

This is typical Forest Circus Prince of Wales "timber harvest"......or should I say what they leave behind, along with old rusty 55 gallon empty drums, cables and lot of trash

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/SpoofCatcher/Img00014013.jpg (broken link)

[arctichomesteader]

Are you against all logging in the forest sarkar?

[DannyL]

This may not be the Forest Services fault, but let's not forget the abandoned crew trailers left to rot, and now no one wants to admit ownership.

[akck]

Originally Posted by Sarkar

The timber industry is on its lips for many good reasons.....mismanagement by the Forest Circus and very poor industry-wide logging practices are just a couple of them

This is typical Forest Circus Prince of Wales "timber harvest"......or should I say what they leave behind, along with old rusty 55 gallon empty drums, cables and lot of trash

To me, the picture doesn't look that bad. It's hard to see the extent of the slash as the picture could be of a landing area which usually has more waste around it. A certain amount of slash is beneficial because it protects the ground from erosion and provides shade for new growth. I've seen worse and have been in an area in Washington where I never walked on the ground and couldn't if I wanted to. I do agree that the drums, cables and trash should have been cleaned up and FS project manager should have made sure it was done before accepting the job as complete.