"Healthy Forests" bait and switch?

[Larry Harrell]

mhagen <replyto at group.only> wrote in message news:<104erci1jre3g64 at corp.supernews.com>...
> Larry Harrell wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > That may not be needed, as they should be just as angry about being
> > hoodwinked. In the end, it's going to be the taxpayers that will
> > suffer. A likely scenario will be that projects will be proposed, work
> > will be done preparing the project and then courts will shut down the
> > project. Everyone loses except the lawyers. Would Kerry implement
> > "Healthy Forests" as President? I'm pretty sure that he voted for it.
> > Anyone know?
> > 
> > Larry,   hoping Congress will fully fund forest restoration
> 
> 
> Well I guess timber sales will just have to accent the "timber" part to 
> pay for themselves and the service contracts will just not happen, as 
> detractors always thought.  I HAD wondered how they were going to get 
> all that new labor trained and in the field so quick. Looks like a last 
> minute reprieve for the big guys.
>

TEAMS will probably be turning away business, even without full
funding from "Healthy Forests". A bad fire season would take money
away from projects we might do, though. I'm sure we're not going to be
calling projects "timber sales" anymore. They'll have a timber sale
component in them, mainly to offset the costs of treating
sub-merchantable saplings.

Could the bigwigs put together projects without us field grunts? I
don't think they could handle the new technology. Some have trouble
running their office computers and managing their e-mail<G>.
 
> Really trying hard not to be sarcastic. ;-(
> 
> Washington DNR just decided to up the next decade's cut in what appears 
> to a fit of nostalgia for the old days of fat forest budgets.  Here's 
> hoping they actually DO some of that variable intensity thinning they've 
> been bragging about.
>

Forestry has reached that crossroads that many of us have forseen.
Many of us are pointing at that road that's labeled "Eco-forestry".
Unfortunately, the people in charge still see the fastrack to
economics. The road to "preservationism" appears to be
overgrown....lol.

> Maybe another CCC is the only realistic answer.

Not really the answer but, an important tool to get labor-intensive
work done. It could also be a great source for new forestry
professionals.

Larry