So-called conservation groups hurting Oregon forests and jobs

by Bill J. Kluting, concerned Oregonian

So-called conservation groups like Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Center for Biological Diversity and other groups are following an agenda. You have to give them “credit” for what they have accomplished in the past and what they look to do in the future.

They have successfully used the federal and state courts to tie the hands of the U.S. Forest Service, BLM, State Forestry Departments and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife – preventing them from ensuring our forests are protected and managed properly.

By using the Endangered Species Act, which is written so that no one understands exactly how to properly carry out its intent, these so-call conservation groups have made a mess of things. Even Federal Judges who know nothing about proper forest and wildlife management are part of the problem – and they are the ones that are supposed to make the final decisions. Maybe these judges should spend part of their careers in the burnt forests to give them an idea of how to make sound forest decisions.

Here’s what these so-called conservation groups have “accomplished”, as we lose millions of acres of forest to wildfire each year:

• They have helped hold up or stop completely the ability to salvage what is usable and restore and replant the burnt lands. They do this through appeals to the various agencies.
• Using appeals, they stop the chance to create 1000’s of jobs in these burnt forests – restoring them back to a healthy condition.
• They are contributing to costing the nation and affected states hundreds and hundreds of millions dollars fighting these fires yearly.
• They are contributing to forcing the government to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars out of other budgets to cover the costs of fighting these fires yearly.
• They are contributing to the creating 10’s of thousands of jobs fighting these fires and putting those lives in harm’s way.
• They are contributing to causing thousands of families to lose their homes and all their processions to wildfire – wildfires which could be prevented with proper forest management.
• They are helping to cost 10’s of thousands of jobs in rural Oregon by stopping agency planning to properly manage these forests.
• They have helped to ruin the ability of these small rural towns to maintain a healthy economic base.
• They have contributed to the problem of rural towns and counties losing funding to maintain public safety, schools and public service jobs for it citizens as jobs and small businesses were lost.
• They have helped ensure their environmental attorneys make millions of dollars from public taxpayer money by filing appeals – using loopholes in the Endangered Species Act.
• They are contributing to causing our streams and rivers in these burnt forests to be polluted – destroying wildlife, fish and other water species for years as proper management is held up in the courts.
• Each year 1000’s of tons of pollutants are released into our atmosphere – increasing the effects of global warming from these fires.

As you can, see we can give these so-called conservation groups a lot of “credit”.