"Joe Zorzin" wrote in message ...
"Larry Harrell" wrote in message
om...

snip

more tree-cutting to reduce fire danger.

As long as its the correct trees to cut, based on something almost unknown
in much of the forestry world- SILVICULTURE.


Personally, I love to ask the forester in charge as to what what the
Unit's prescription is. I politely wait for them to present their
complex description then, calmly pronouce " Oh? So, it's marker's
choice, eh?" Knowing full well that I will slightly alter the marking
prescription to meet the actual on-the-ground conditions. Yep, I do
think that's still called silviculture, in my book. Those of you who
have marked trees to be cut know instinctively how to proceed. You've
developed your own "style" and "vision" of what that particular piece
of ground SHOULD look like to you after the work is done. That "feel"
is gained through experience and learning. Unfortunately, in today's
forestry world, sometimes your view differs from someone else's
(higher than you). In Joe's case, the client sometimes might want
something different than you (the one with the paintgun). That has
happened to me, as well. In the case of a project I worked on under
the Clinton Northwest Forest Plan. To me, it was too heavy-handed.
Cutting healthy trees up to 59" dbh is unacceptable to me.


"How do we tell what the agency is up to, by what they say on Earth
Day or what they're doing the rest of the year?" asked Warren Alford,
a spokesman for the Sierra Club.

Bosworth criticized environmentalists' actions and news coverage of
forest policies, saying they put too much emphasis on problems that
have been essentially solved.


Perhaps he could attempt to prove this.


Nationally, logging is down to about 2 billion board-feet a year,
one-sixth the volume of 20 years ago, while the forest service
eliminates 14 miles of forest roads for every mile of road that is
built, Bosworth said.

Yet high-profile controversies continue over plans to cut trees and
over the Bush administration's reluctance to support a Clinton-era
national roadless policy that would prevent road construction in
millions of acres of national forest.

For all the controversy, especially in the interior West, over cattle
grazing on public lands, Bosworth said further reductions could put
ranchers out of business, which in turn would lead them to subdivide
private land abutting national forests. He said that 85 percent of
grazed forest land is in "good condition" or is improving.

I remember hiking in the Wind River Range in Wyoming- climbed up on a spurr
and looked out over a vast vista- then climed down into a nearby wooded area
only to see dozens of fat, stupid cows dropping their turds all over the
forest and tearing up the ground- like no wild animal would do.



Saw them from the air last year. Still-frozen lakes in June. A part of
Wyoming that many Americans don't know exists.

I share your criticism of the grazing program. ALL sensitive areas
need to be off limits to cows. Especially wilderness areas. Totally
uncompatible activities. Hell, I'd be willing to pay extra to have a
good hamburger, knowing that the cow didn't damage our environment in
ways I strongly dislike.



Comment from poster: In my book, Dale is right on the money, at least
from a forest management point of view.

I don't think so. The USFS overall has done a lousy job. There is no reason
they couldn't do brilliant forest mgt. while protecting endangered species,
keeping cows off the forest, keeping off road vehicles on the roads- WHILE
making a profit- AND- if they had half a brain, they'd be ahead of the
enviros on ALL issues.


The Clinton-Era thinning sales I worked on while on the Eldorado
matches your criteria, Joe. Average cut tree diameter--- 13" 5.5
million board feet
No trees over 29" dbh cut. A very worthwhile project, which still left
a fully stocked stand of healthy larger trees.


I also hope he will continue
to talk about forestry issues in the public eye and come out from
under Mark Rey's thumb. The Chief of the Forest Service should be out
in the public, defending good management.

Meanwhile, the USFS is behind the "service forestry" folks in the states-
the people who condone logging without real foresters. It's USFS money that
keeps those state flunkies in business.


I support your push against bad forestry, bad silviculture and bad
practices. I'd also support anybody against bad politics G Both
parties.

Larry