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| National forest locks up timber |
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2006/4/29
What a difference between the way our Green Mountain National Forest timber land is managed and the way our Vermont State Forest land is managed. I ask you to drive into our national forest on the fire roads, hike into the forest, observe the number of people you see using this valuable resource. There is a good road from Mount Tabor to Landgrove that is all in the national forest. Now ride through our Vermont State Forest. It is a nice ride if you go to Northam in the town of Shrewsbury. Take the CCC road to Plymouth. You are going through a lot of beautiful forestland, most of it owned by the state of Vermont. Stop and hike in it. You should be able to find some beautiful forestland.
Timber harvesting in this approximately 400,000-acre valuable resource called the Green Mountain National Forest seldom happens for two reasons. One being that the Congress thinks they know more about managing this valuable resource than the people they hire to manage the forest. Congress has already set aside approximately 60,000 acres as wilderness and an additional 23,000 acres called the White Rock National Recreation Area which because of restrictions place on timber harvesting might just as well be called wilderness. The national forest management recommended setting aside an additional 27,000 acres as wilderness in their new proposed plan. Our three congressmen did not think that was enough so they recommended setting aside an additional 48,000 acres as wilderness. This will make the total area set aside as wilderness 131,000 acres.
Very little harvesting of timber is done on the remaining land because as soon as a job is put up for bid someone appeals the project. Timber is no different than the corps in your garden. When it matures it should be harvested.
Our Vermont state forest land is managed quite differently. The appeal process does not allow a person to re-enter and re-enter his appeal as the national forest does. The head of Vermont Forest and Parks makes the final decision. They are not subject to the political pressure that both Congress and those that manage our national forest are forced to contend with. The Vermont State Forest land is truly managed for multiple use, timber management and recreation. Our Green Mountain National Forest now is managed primarily for recreation, and you seldom see anyone in the forest except on marked trails or recreation areas such as Hapgood Pond and Grout Pond. The timber in this vast area is much too valuable a resource to squander and used by just a few people.
I suggest the Vermont Legislature enact legislation that will prohibit the sale of any more land to the Green Mountain National Forest.
FRED THURLOW
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| Source:http://www.rutlandherald.com |
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