Let's focus on forest solutions and solve the problems

Big Sky Coalition believes it is time to move beyond the past and focus on developing public support for state and federal legislation to address the most critical forest management issues in the Bitterroot National Forest and surrounding areas.

Our first public meeting provided over 650 concerned Montana citizens with an excellent overview of the successes, failures and history of western forest management practices in the 20^th century. The group of expert panelists and their presentations put into vivid context our belief that no single group (i.e., Congress, Forest Service, environmental groups) or single issue (legislation, litigation, low timber prices) is solely to blame for the mess our national forests are in today.

The meeting was a success by any objective measure. In fact, over half of the 650 people attending signed up as new members, and more concerned Montanans have joined each week since. Based on the large turnout and overwhelmingly positive response, we believe a majority of citizens in western Montana and beyond want real forest management solutions, not more rhetoric from organizational stakeholders.

Since the meeting, members of the Big Sky Coalition executive committee have met with a number of local and national environmental groups to better understand their respective positions and visions for a comprehensive forest management plan that is, in the words of Matthew Koehler, executive director of the WildWest Institute, “bracketed by reality.”

We have recently had discussions with representatives of the National Wildlife Federation, Montana Wilderness Association, Friends of the Bitterroot, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Bitterroot Forest Service, Beaverhead - Deer Lodge partnership, Montana Forest Restoration Working Group, Wilderness Society and WildWest Institute, just to name a few.

We have been encouraged by the number of environmental groups that believe as we do: That moving forward with a large-scale forest restoration program, using best practices and a combination of environmentally responsible applications to thin the forest and remove the slash, not only makes forests and buffer areas healthier, but much more resistant to catastrophic fires.

Yes, there are environmental groups who remind us that global warming is here to stay and we cannot do anything about it. Some have expressed the belief that we could lose up to 70 to 80% of our Bitterroot Forest to drought, fire and disease in the coming decades, and that large-scale thinning in the forest will not work.

Yet many of these same environmental groups support thinning trees 400 feet around homes and structures in the forest interface, but not beyond this point. This tactical approach is not a long-term solution. It is, at best, a band-aid.

It is difficult to understand why environmental organizations such as Friends of the Bitterroot do not advocate thinning the forests because they believe thinning on a large scale will do more harm than good to the forest ecosystem. Yet these same groups cite alarming studies that claim if we do nothing our forests will face catastrophic destruction by wildfires in coming years, which could lead to a devastating chain of events ecologically and economically in the Bitterroot Valley.

We seek a long-term fuel reduction solution in our forests that addresses key environmental concerns while providing a viable long-term, large-scale source for small diameter timber and slash materials that can in turn create opportunities for new and established wood products businesses in our communities.

To advance our organization's mission, we are studying new and emerging techniques for large-scale thinning and harvesting, such as "cut-to-length" technology, as well as very low-impact slash removal and chipping processes.

We are also researching new ways to use the millions of tons of renewable resources our forests could easily produce, such as small diameter timber and slash. We are having discussions with companies that are already using these new technologies, ranging from creation of composite lumber and decking materials to biofuel production using "plasma conversion" technology that not only burns slash and other solid waste without emitting pollutants, but which also provides a synthetic gas that can generate electricity and even power our automobiles.

Our country's surging demand for affordable, dependable and responsible energy is fueling an exciting wave of development focused on biofuels. However, until Congress provides adequate national legislation and the United States Forest Service (USFS) commits to long-term contracts to supply enough biomass to companies considering investments in these new technologies, it will not happen because the investment community will not get on board until this commitment is made.

Companies considering these capital-intensive investments will move to communities where this commitment can be realized. A long-term commitment by the USFS is therefore crucial in the success of these negotiations. But the USFS can't commit until our communities and elected officials come together to pass legislation to reduce the threat of protracted litigation in the common interest of developing a better way of managing forest overgrowth.

Montana is where the environmental movement began* in the 1950s and 60s. The Big Sky Coalition believes we must strive to return our great State to the forefront of sound conservation practices and environmental leadership with new forest management priorities, policies and technologies.

It is in this spirit that the Big Sky Coalition will pursue its mission to bring Montana citizens and our elected officials together to work for common sense solutions to today's most pressing forest management issues.

We invite your participation and support in advancing this worthy cause.

For more information, please visit http://www.bigskycoalition.org

* In 1952, Montana State University Professor Charles Crane Bradley made a movie about the Yampa River/Echo Park Canyon area of Colorado and showed the film in the Bozeman area to gain support for his position. Historians mark the Echo Park debate (in the 1950's) as the birth of the modern environmental movement in the United States.

Reference: http://www.geology.wisc.edu/alumni/ccbradley/scientist.html