Alaskan Pipeline/ Cali Gas line/ Railway on the coast (lease, live in)

[Elk Wallow]

Originally Posted by Terryj

This reminds me of the echo's of the Alaskan Pipeline back in the 70"s, "it's going to cause animals to go extinct and destroy the environment" it hasn't done either of these things.

There has been very little of clear cutting of forest on federal lands since the early 80's, and when it is done it is due to diseased trees. Forest need to be managed, or nature will manage them for you, I don't think that burned out forest and diseased trees will be much of a tourist attraction.

Oh right..... Got to clear cut the forests because they are going to burn down!

The forests of Oregon have evolved with fire over millions of years due to lightning strikes in the mountains. Still, the most beautiful and biodiverse forests in the country.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

Oh right..... Got to clear cut the forests because they are going to burn down!

The forests of Oregon have evolved with fire over millions of years due to lightning strikes in the mountains. Still, the most beautiful and biodiverse forests in the country.

Yes, either log them or burn them, but we have to get rid of trees some way. We are getting really short on early succession wildlife and plant habitat.

[jjpop]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

The forests of Oregon have evolved with fire over millions of years due to lightning strikes in the mountains. Still, the most beautiful and biodiverse forests in the country.

But they haven't evolved with fire suppression and monoculture stands. I think we all understand that public forests have to be managed, the question is HOW to manage them.

[Elk Wallow]

Selective cutting on timber leases works just fine. Biodiversity and water quality for the salmon streams is preserved. People can clear cut on their own private land if they wish.

[Terryj]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

Oh right..... Got to clear cut the forests because they are going to burn down!

The forests of Oregon have evolved with fire over millions of years due to lightning strikes in the mountains. Still, the most beautiful and biodiverse forests in the country.

I do not advocate it indiscriminate clear cutting of public lands, but they do need to be managed in a far better way than we are doing today. Envirommentlist really need to get their heads around the fact that trees and forest need to be managed in a responsible way, and not doing nothing is not being responsible.
It's is just the opposite, by suppressing fires we have created a monster and that monster is going to unlease itself one of these days. You have people moving into wooded areas, and then expect their house to be saved because lightening has started a fire. In days long ago these fires were allowed to burn, reducing undergrowth and keeping a much healthier forest. Today we are left with thick overgrown forest infested with beetles, enjoy your tourism.

[Elk Wallow]

The NFs are already being managed by selective cutting and thinning. This allows the trees to grow up mature with a long way from branches above the ground. This prevents crown fires. Beetle killed snags are homes for woodpeckers and hollow tree dwelling wildlife of many kinds. I choose to live in the forest, risks are part of life on Earth.

[Terryj]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

The NFs are already being managed by selective cutting and thinning. This allows the trees to grow up mature with a long way from branches above the ground. This prevents crown fires. Beetle killed snags are homes for woodpeckers and hollow tree dwelling wildlife of many kinds. I choose to live in the forest, risks are part of life on Earth.

Yes, the USDA does manage "some" of the vast acreage of forest we have in this state, but that isn't enough. As soon as the USFS puts out a bid for tree thinning you have enviromentlist from all over the Pacific Northwest trying to stop the thinning operation. Then it is tied up in court for a few years, then it's a never mind type of thing because chances are will have already burned.

I enjoy the forest and mountains just as much as the next guy, but driving through some of the forest in the high Cascades makes me wonder, you can not even see 30 feet into the forest due to undergrowth, and forget trying to hike though them. Wild life is sparse in these areas, you might see a rodent or two but that's about it. I remember as a kid growing up here in Oregon, going out in the mountains and there was a very good chance you would see Elk and Deer, not today, unless they are carrying machetes to hack their way through the underbrush.

[Elk Wallow]

The animals are there. They just hear you coming.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Elk Wallow

The NFs are already being managed by selective cutting and thinning. This allows the trees to grow up mature with a long way from branches above the ground. This prevents crown fires. Beetle killed snags are homes for woodpeckers and hollow tree dwelling wildlife of many kinds. I choose to live in the forest, risks are part of life on Earth.

Millions of acres in Oregon alone are desperately in need of management treatment, most of which is not even scheduled. The USFS is a horrible absentee landlord.

[Nell Plotts]

The prospect of forest fires this summer sends shivers up my spine. I was very young but remember what is called the Tillamook Burn Third Fire. Whenever my parents drove over the Coast Range I would hide under a blanket in the back seat so as not to see the charred trees.

I also recall sitting on the porch on our NW Portland home and seeing smoke come up over the Tualatin Ridge (west hills to most of you), it would have been in about 1947.