Stewardship - The careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care. -Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
Fraud - An intentional perversion of the truth for the purpose of inducing another to part with some valuable thing. -Black's Law Dictionary
SOME BACKGROUND:
In recent years, the US Forest Service has come under increasing criticism for emphasizing timber production in America's 155 national forests. Conservationists and concerned citizens say the timber sales program is a huge subsidy for timber corporations and places wildlife and fish species at risk of extinction, destroys recreational opportunities, and degrades clean water.
The Forest Service justifies their logging program by saying the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars spent annually on timber sales is a necessary "tool" to carry out their stewardship mission on the National Forests.
This photographic story reveals why many Americans simply do not trust the Forest Service to properly manage our national forests, and want the timber sale program to be halted. It also reveals the necessity for citizens and conservation organizations to closely monitor Forest Service activities.
In February of 1995, the Forest Service proposed extensive clearcutting and road construction in the Kootenai National Forest, located in the northwest corner of Montana. The Forest Service's justification was to salvage timber from areas burned by wildfires during the summer of 1994.
The proposals included the Skyline Ridge Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS proposed timber sales to:The logging certainly removed "valuable timber." On the other hand, it is doubtful the logging and road building project managed to "provide for long-term sustainability" of any forest resource, or contributed to "natural recovery" for the benefit of water resources, as the results of citizen monitoring revealed.
The proposal included clearcutting heavily within the O'Brien Creek watershed. O'Brien Creek has been identified as a Priority Watershed, since it is one of the last streams used by bull trout for spawning in the lower stretch of the Kootenai River system. The O'Brien Creek watershed also provides important habitat for grizzly bears. Both species are listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.
On May 7, 1996, Kootenai National Forest Supervisor Robert Schrenk approved a proposal to log 25.3 million board feet (enough timber for over 5000 log truck loads), build 10.2 miles of new roads, and reconstruct 21 miles of road for the Skyline Ridge project.
Barred from taking legal action because of the notorious Salvage Rider, conservation groups the Ecology Center and the Lands Council monitored the timber sale to find out the truth behind the Forest Service's claims of "stewardship."
What we learned:
By following the links to subsequent pages, you can see photographs that allow visual comparisons between Forest Service rhetoric vs. on-the-ground reality for the Studebaker Fire Salvage Timber Sale, one of four sales approved by the Skyline Ridge EIS. Some show conditions in August 1996 (two years post-wildfire, with road construction and reconstruction accomplished but no new logging) compared to September, 1998 (most of the logging completed).
After you look at the comparisons, please go to the "Do It!" page and assert your influence as one of the owners of your Kootenai National Forest and the other 154 National Forests.
Old Growth comparison: Before and after logging
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