7/15/2011
My Turn: Fish, frogs and owls
didn't survive the Wallow Fire
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Douglas E. Brown, AZ
The trees, together with the plants that grow under
them and the water that cycles around them, are the
basis for the communities in the White Mountains.
The people who come to visit and recreate in the
trees; the cattle that harvest the forage under
them; the people who work in the woods to harvest
them; and the wood mills which process them were the
tools that helped to create our rural communities'
economy and a healthy forest for the first 70 years
of Arizona's statehood.
Then something changed.
Our forests are the greatest fiber producing areas
in our state. They produce wood and plant fibers in
such abundance that for 70 years it took
approximately 25 saw mills and 90,000 head of
livestock to barely keep up with its annual
production.
For example: the United States Forest Service
estimated that from 1986 to 2000 Arizona's forests
annually produced 367 million board feet of saw
timber. That's a total of 5.5 billion board feet of
saw timber from the years 1986 to 2000.
This number does not reflect the plant fibers and
other small woody species growth in our forests -
just the saw timber.
What a gift. Five and one half billion board feet of
trees to give beauty and respite to the White
Mountains' visitors, fuel our economies, build our
communities, and provide jobs in northeastern
Arizona. But since the early 1980s we have been
squandering this gift.
How might you ask? Well - in the 1980s radical
environmental groups began to engage in lawsuits,
with endless appeals and petitions to stop wood and
forage harvesting projects in our forests. They
became very adept at designating habitat to protect
a fish, a frog or an owl in a fashion that made
cutting trees or grazing cows under them a crime and
a forbidden activity.
They were successful. Their maneuvering caused every
"logline" saw mill around our forests to close.
Their successful manipulations of "scientific
footnotes" made the cow look like an evil creature
that ate fish, frogs and owls. It got to the point
that in the years 1996, 1997, and 1998 we harvested
nearly zero board feet of saw timber from our
forests and ever since we have only been harvesting
a very small amount. It has gotten so bad that the
United States Forest Service estimated that over 6
billion board feet of timber has been allowed to
build up in the Apache-Sitgreaves Forest. Each and
every year that number grows by approximately 367
million board feet. This is the approximate
equivalent of 240 million gallons of propane sitting
in our forest - and growing every year. Is there any
question why we are having catastrophic fires in our
forest?
The worst part is - it is not over. Our forests are
growing today and these lawsuits and appeals have
driven off our wood harvesting economy. The
infrastructure of small and large diameter wood
mills is gone. There are only a couple of small ones
left. The range and animal science expertise that
used to oversee the day-to-day management of
livestock production to harvest the forage that
grows daily in our forests has shrunk because many
of those ranch families found less dangerous and
uncertain areas to produce food in. We are at a
breaking point where either we continue to talk
about the forest, study the forest and collaborate
about the harvest of small diameter trees - or we
act. We act by inviting back investment and
expertise in the form of wood mills and ranch
families. We act by inviting back those "forest
engineers" who worked in the woods and understand
how to harvest trees and make valuable products for
mankind.
It is time to act and everyone should be measured by
their actions. Are they stepping aside and demanding
fuel reduction and wood harvest activities in our
forest? Or are they calling for more small diameter
collaboration and talk about what a fish, frog or
owl needs?
One thing for sure - most of this generation's fish,
frogs and owls - didn't survive the Wallow Fire and
its aftermath. Neither did 500,000 acres of
pricelessly beautiful trees. We need to ask
ourselves - would they have survived a cow or a
chainsaw? My lifelong experience tells me yes.
Douglas E. Brown is an attorney and recent
evacuee from Eagar. He was born and raised in
northeastern Arizona. His great grandfather operated
a sawmill and homesteaded in the White Mountains and
his family continues to produce beef in the area. |
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