We have been deluged by responses to Barry Wynsma's thoughtful essay on Forest Service leadership - or the lack thereof. Provided here is some feedback on the essay.
W.V. "Mac" McConnell writes from Florida. He is a U.S. Forest Service retiree whose Power Point presentations have appeared on our website many times. His latest efforts are nearby: an updated version of his earlier "Timber Resource Management" Power Point and a fascinating photograph, "One Landscape: Four Views," that shows what is happening on adjacent public and private forests at Deep Creek, near Townsend, Montana.
Editor's comment concerning Mike Petersen's (Executive Director - Lands Council) Response To Dr. Tom Bonnicksen's Essay, "Death Of A Forest: Why We Should Care"
Editor's Note:
Financial Considerations in Forest Restoration
Three scientists with experience in forest restoration economics - Dennis Becker, University of Minnesota, Debra Larson, Northern Arizona University and Eini Lowell, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Portland - recently published an detailed report in which they quantify harvest-related costs associated with three different restoration strategies for use in Southwest ponderosa pine forests in which the risk of catastrophic wildfire is high.
Not surprisingly, the strategies - full restoration with a 16-inch limit on the diameter of trees that can be harvested, intermediate restoration with no diameter limit and minimal restoration with a 16-inch diameter limit - yield varying results where costs and profitability are concerned.
The bottom line: forest policy restrictions that limit the size of ponderosa pines that can be removed from overstocked and dying forests in the Southwest affects profitability and thus the need for taxpayer subsidy.
To read the study, click on the PDF below.
Biomass Financial Considerations
human need to use natural resources is fundamental to our continued presence on earth."