Environmentalists and Loggers Find Common Ground
There is a rumbling in the woods, no it’s not Sasquash but something just as unheard of is occurring in a remote region of Washington that could set new stewardship standards for other Western states in the form of groundbreaking wilderness legislation. For Today’s OpenRange, I’m Susan Allen back after the break. Who would have thought that a former Earth First radical now head of Conservation Northwest, Mitch Friedman is pushing a forest initiative that has the support of logging companies and actually allows for the inclusion of off road recreational vehicles and cattle.
It seems incomprehensible that environmentalists and the logging industry representatives have had round table meetings for months to hammer out a plan to add more than 180,000 acres of wilderness to the ColvilleNational Forest and haven’t been at each others throats. Actually they have created an aura of respect in their willingness to create a corridor that could link the Cascades to the Rockies and protect the states grizzly habitat. In the proposed Columbia Highland Initiative, Conservation Northwest notes the benefits of having a relationship with the Northwestern Forestry coalition especially when it comes to thinning and clearing forests and maintaining roads. In return for conservation help the group has dedicated specific areas for logging in the ColvilleNational forest and off ATV recreational use. It is still a bit iffy how this legislation will effect grazing permits but refreshingly it seems this group has created room for conversation and suggestion.
