Is the controversy hurting the timber industry throughout the nation?
No. In fact, Southern pine plantations are doing quite well meeting the demand resulting from slowdowns in the Northwest. What should be done? We must first reach adecision on how much ancient forest will be set aside for preservation. Once this is done, a timetable must be set for the changes that must occur within the timber industry. Job retraining programs must be provided for the many employees who will be out of work, just as has been done for Silicon Valley high tech workers, auto workers, defense contractors, and others, and just as will be done in West Virginia when the Clean Air Act shuts down high-sulfur coal use. We also must ensure that all timber-associated jobs stay at home rather than being exported to a timber-hungry international market. What’s the bottom-line? We got into this mess by inaction, equally shared by industry, government, and the public (yes, including environmentalists). In Utopia, industry would expand its replanting program and continue to diversify, t
