Clearcutting is Beneficial to Wildlife
I'm not suggesting that all clearcutting is good, but I am saying that not clearcutting is bad. We know how to do it much better now and clearcutting is one tool of many that can be used build Maine's economy and benefit wildlife.
Here's an article from the Boston Globe.
It's interesting that the group that got the Lynx listed as "threatened" on the endangered species list, is the same one that wants to confiscate Maine's timberland and manage it as Baxter State Park is. Please note: There are NO LYNX in Baxter. Without clearcuts or forest fires, there is no snowshoe hare habitat.
Lynx are not threatened, it's simply that we are on the southern edge of their habitat. They are rare in Maine because the line on the map is in the "wrong" spot for lynx. Move it south, and we'd have no lynx. Move it north, and we'd have plenty.
Lynx survive on one food -- Snowshoe Hares. My best friend set up the original Lynx study here in Maine, caught the first Lynx. We have hunted together in the Lynx study area and the wildlife habitat is becoming overgrown. Moose are browsing on low-quality foods because there isn't enough of the good stuff to go around. Grouse, woodcock and snowshoes are all in decline.
The ban on clearcuts is an over-correction, and we are headed for a wreck on the wildlife habitat side. A lot of the clearcutting of the past did have negative environmental impacts, but we know how to do it right now. We can use responsible forest management practices to economically benefit the poorest parts of this state, and to help wildlife.
As for "storing carbon" in the forest, it doesn't matter if the tree is alive, or sawn into boards, or turned into newsprint and buried in a landfill, the carbon is "stored" in the wood or paper. The fact is that young, growing forests grab more carbon from the atmosphere than old growth.
The fire areas used to be called "burns" and were common until the 1946 fire. Burns were oasis of wildlife activity. We're serious about fighting forest fires in Maine. (My town of 1200 people are spending 160,000 to upgrade the forest fire fighting equipment this year.) There are no more burns.
Here's an article from the Boston Globe.
It's interesting that the group that got the Lynx listed as "threatened" on the endangered species list, is the same one that wants to confiscate Maine's timberland and manage it as Baxter State Park is. Please note: There are NO LYNX in Baxter. Without clearcuts or forest fires, there is no snowshoe hare habitat.
Lynx are not threatened, it's simply that we are on the southern edge of their habitat. They are rare in Maine because the line on the map is in the "wrong" spot for lynx. Move it south, and we'd have no lynx. Move it north, and we'd have plenty.
Lynx survive on one food -- Snowshoe Hares. My best friend set up the original Lynx study here in Maine, caught the first Lynx. We have hunted together in the Lynx study area and the wildlife habitat is becoming overgrown. Moose are browsing on low-quality foods because there isn't enough of the good stuff to go around. Grouse, woodcock and snowshoes are all in decline.
The ban on clearcuts is an over-correction, and we are headed for a wreck on the wildlife habitat side. A lot of the clearcutting of the past did have negative environmental impacts, but we know how to do it right now. We can use responsible forest management practices to economically benefit the poorest parts of this state, and to help wildlife.
As for "storing carbon" in the forest, it doesn't matter if the tree is alive, or sawn into boards, or turned into newsprint and buried in a landfill, the carbon is "stored" in the wood or paper. The fact is that young, growing forests grab more carbon from the atmosphere than old growth.
The fire areas used to be called "burns" and were common until the 1946 fire. Burns were oasis of wildlife activity. We're serious about fighting forest fires in Maine. (My town of 1200 people are spending 160,000 to upgrade the forest fire fighting equipment this year.) There are no more burns.
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