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2006/5/24
SEELEY LAKE - For a decade, Missoula conservationists have honored resource professionals in western Montana with an award named for the man many consider the heart and soul of the area's conservation movement - Arnold Bolle.
Never before had they presented the award to a leader of the timber industry.
That drought ended this month when Gordy Sanders, resource manager for Seeley Lake's Pyramid Mountain Lumber Co., was handed the award and touted as a “tireless advocate for a new forestry ethic in Montana's woods.”
Tom France of the National Wildlife Federation presented the award.
“I think Arnie would be especially pleased with this choice, because it illustrates not only how we've changed in our outlooks about resource conservation, but also how the timber industry has changed and evolved in response to different environments in the forest, in local communities and in the logging business,” France said.
There was a day when the timber business was pretty straightforward, he said. The Forest Service had plenty of money to build roads and offer big timber sales. But those days are gone. Now the agency is ensnared in appeals and litigation, France said.
As Forest Service budgets dwindled, the agency lost its ability to prepare and market sales. Sawmills shut down and some larger timber companies left the state. The changes presented a significant challenge to the mills left behind, France said.
The companies not only had to make significant investments in new technologies, diversify their sources of timber and retrain workers, they also had to do a better job of convincing the public and agencies that timber was a renewable resource - and that logging was compatible with other natural resources.
No company has been more successful than Pyramid Mountain Lumber, France said. It recast itself as the stewardship company, invested in new equipment and became a nimble competitor on both public and private lands.
At the same time, the company became a leader in calling for sustainable logging on Montana's forests and reached out to diverse partners to begin building support for timber projects that included restoration, habitat improvement and community outreach, France said.
Sanders helped the company reinvent itself.
“While Gordy has been recognized many times within the timber industry as an outstanding communicator and forester, it is perhaps overdue that he be recognized by conservationists for his contributions to stewardship forestry, to positive partnerships and to mentoring a new generation of forest professionals,” France said.
Sanders said “it was quite a surprise” to learn that he'd been selected for the award, although maybe it shouldn't have been.
Not long ago, Sanders and Loren Rose, both of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, wrote a short essay called “A Quiet Revolution.”
In it, they talk about the growing, behind-the-scenes efforts to find common ground between the timber industry and mainstream conservation groups.
“A quiet revolution has been going on among the remaining family owned sawmills in rural communities across Montana,” they wrote. “Increasingly, open and honest dialogue through collaborative and cooperative efforts on landscape-level treatments has become commonplace.
“Conservation community members, timber industry and community representatives have been creating win/win solutions rather than win/lose battles of rhetoric, media posturing and legal entanglements.”
Sanders takes pride in the fact he's been willing to work with others to find middle ground.
“I try to be a good listener,” he said. “It's hard to listen if you're always talking.”
He's long thought it's important to bring people together with varied backgrounds and interests early on in the process. It's even better if people will leave the sterile meeting room behind and get outside to take a firsthand look at the resource.
“I've worked very hard to bring folks out on the ground to let them see for themselves what we're doing,” he said. “It's really the only way for people to actually be able to judge for themselves.”
Too often, Sanders said, the media and others concentrate on the controversy that occurs when a project is initially considered, but never go back and take a look at the finished product.
“We think it's important that people get out and see the end result,” he said. “Showing people that dispels the vision of a tortured landscape that's often characterized by the small, but very vocal group of environmental groups in Missoula.”
While mainstream conservation groups have come to realize the role that family owned sawmills have in maintaining Montana's rural lifestyles, Sanders said the groups on the fringes - “those that operate under a business model that requires litigation and confrontation” - have far too much power to impact the long-term health of national forestlands.
“Too much power in the hands of too few people has always been highly unpopular, especially in Montana,” Sanders said. “Sooner or later, they're going to cross the line and impact too many people in a negative fashion ... then they'll lose the right to do what they're doing.”
Family owned sawmills like Pyramid Mountain and the Forest Service have completed cooperative projects that both provide timber to feed the mills and accomplish a variety of projects beneficial for the resource, including obliterating unneeded roads and restoring streams, he said.
The perfect example is the work recently completed on the Clearwater Stewardship Project in the Seeley Lake area, Sanders said.
“We can manage the forest and still be light on the land,” he said. “Our work can benefit Montana's forested ecosystems and still produce a commercial product that will help maintain small family owned sawmills.
“Ultimately, people are beginning to realize that forests are simply large plant communities that are changing every day. With all the fires and media coverage, more and more people are beginning to want to see some active management.”
“I believe we've bridged the gap ... we're working constructively with mainstream conservation groups to find the common ground that helps us all work together for the resource,” he said. “If you don't believe something is possible, there is no chance that it will happen. Good things don't happen by accident.”
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