All these trees, yet no sawmill in Libby
As a retired forester, I read with interest the front-page article in the July 11 issue concerning the Kootenai National Forest (KNF) and the attempts to find common ground on the usage of this great resource.
The efforts of the Kootenai Forest Stakeholders Coalition are a start, and I agree that solving the problems on the ground instead of court is a step in the right direction. However, given that we are surrounded by a wall of wood, growing in volume with each passing year, I believe the focus should be more on good paying jobs in our community. I can’t be the only one who is shocked and saddened that there isn’t a single operating sawmill in Lincoln County. Recreation is fine, and certainly is not in conflict with long-term, sustainable timber harvesting, but the jobs are seasonal, part-time and low wage.
While I do not expect a return to a huge sawmill complex in Libby, can we imagine how much Lincoln County would prosper if the KNF actually produced a steady flow of timber sufficient to wood a modestly sized, modern mill?
Indeed, based on the most recent inventory, the KNF is growing more that 500 million board feet (mbf) per year. However, the annual harvest is only in the range of 50 mbf. Every three years, the growing stock increases by more than a billion mbf. And still, we have not a single sawmill in the county. Instead of exporting lumber, Lincoln County exports its children.
As I read the July 11 issue of the Western News, my attention turned to the article on page B1 (Lincoln County receives $644,300 in Federal funding), concerning payment in lieu of taxes. Oh, what incredible irony, juxtaposed against the front-page story.
Time was, when the KNF was actually producing timber, Lincoln County was awash in cash from our share of timber sale receipts. Now, we are dependent on an unreliable source of federal welfare, while surrounded by billions of dollars of a completely renewable resource. The Organic Act establishing the National Forests is clear that, among other things, these forests should supply a steady flow of timber. It is past time we returned to that ethic.
I am infuriated with the comments made by Mike Garrity (Alliance for the Wild Rockies): “just because a bunch of local people get together, they can’t override Congress and decide what laws should and shouldn’t be followed”. Sorry Mr. Garrity, but you are dead wrong. What right do you have to come into our community, and put local citizens out of work with your fanatical Gaia worship? Your constant frivolous lawsuits, funded by the American taxpayer because of the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA), have little to no scientific merit.
I have made my complaints known, but what are my solutions? Repeal EAJA, which forces the American taxpayer to fund the innumerable frivolous lawsuits that have essentially shut down the National Forests; recognize that there is a huge supply of standing timber on the KNF, more than sufficient to wood a modestly sized sawmill (Let’s agree that the annual harvest level should be at least to this level, to attract the required capital investment); and urge Congress, and especially those representing the western states dominated by federal forest land, to do their job and direct the National Forests to begin again producing sustainable volumes of sawtimber. Controlling the dumping of subsidized Canadian lumber is part of this equation.
The federal government has broken faith with the states and counties, mostly in the west, that have the misfortune of being located near a National Forest. These are our forests, and our resources that are being wasted. As a result, our communities suffer from crushing poverty and high unemployment. The National Forests were not established just so we could watch them grow older, denser, more fire, insect, and disease prone, and ultimately, watch them die. They were established to produce a steady flow of timber. It is high time we returned to that goal.
—Lawrence K Miller
Yaak, MT