Last week I came across a newspaper article pointing out that with the start of 2015, we will have a new congress which might offer hope we can get back to business as usual. It was referring to the fact that all the rules and regulations we have, are resulting in so many lawsuits we are not able to implement our proposed forest management actions. I interpreted the writer's desire was, "if only we could eliminate many of the rules and regulations we must operate with, we could get back to business as it use to be". I agree our scientists are completely over-whelmed with paper work, they have insufficient time for quality forest community management. My experience suggests much of the required office time is the result of demands of the bureaucracy not congressional laws. I spent over 2 years working in the legislation process as an employee of the FOREST SERVICE in the mid-1970's. Personal experience demonstrated that involving the congressional process seldom results in satisfactory resolution of environmental issues. During my time in Washington D.C. the clear-cutting issue reached it's peak and the Congress was urged to try to resolve the issue. Had it not been for aggressive action by the Chief of the Forest Service, Congress would have passed prescriptive legislation dictating how forest lands were to be managed. I personally believe this would have been a major mistake. The bottom line is, I have little faith in relying on the politicians to resolve key issues relating to the management of our remaining forested lands.
The short cuts, we hope will allow us to by-pass the debates over major issues related to future management of our forests, are not the answer! The responsibility rests with the scientists and mangers. Somehow we have got to direct the discussion, with our interested public's, to the requirements of our remaining forests and terminate our focus on the renewable nature resources we can take from the forests. The debate must focus on the need to maintain healthy, diverse forests, not on what techniques to use to achieve our resource goals! I am sure this sounds simple, but I truly believe, many of our disagreements and lawsuits are the result of debating processes rather than goals for the desired future.
The short cuts, we hope will allow us to by-pass the debates over major issues related to future management of our forests, are not the answer! The responsibility rests with the scientists and mangers. Somehow we have got to direct the discussion, with our interested public's, to the requirements of our remaining forests and terminate our focus on the renewable nature resources we can take from the forests. The debate must focus on the need to maintain healthy, diverse forests, not on what techniques to use to achieve our resource goals! I am sure this sounds simple, but I truly believe, many of our disagreements and lawsuits are the result of debating processes rather than goals for the desired future.
