Issue Position: Environment

Issue Position

Look into the spotted owl and many other of the birds that have been listed on the threatened or endangered species list. Years ago I cut out and copied newspaper articles for then president Clinton and 2 other of the top EPA and Forest Service heads. They were finding spotted owls emaciated in surprising numbers! There were at least 5 articles where they were found dead and autopsy showed they starved. There were articles stating they found spotted owls nesting in 30 year old trees, they found a nest in a Roseburg K-Mart sign! I had them nesting in my back yard (they have a distinctive whoo) Also an article on the effective rodenticide the federal forest department had been using for 26 years!! It stopped rodents from killing the small newly planted trees, and how effective it was at killing the rodents. I made 3 copies of each and sent them off with a letter. I got a BS thank you letter back from Clinton. They are still using the rodenticide! The spotted owls numbers are still declining. You will not survive without food, spotted owls eat rodents, rodenticides kill rodents. Birds that have no food, do not reproduce, they die. Shutting down the forests to logging has not helped the Spotted Owls nor improved the heath of our forests.

Before we came and started managing the forests, lightning strikes would cause large forest fires. Keeping insects and disease in check and cutting the acidity of the soil and water. Maintaining the health of our forests. Western Pine beetles and swiss needle cast disease are but 2 of the natural forces destroying our forests, that were kept in check by the fires. If we opened up logging with a managed clear cut/ burn system, we could improve the health of the forests and employ thousands of Oregonians. Also when wood burns and you pour water through the ashes you create lye which is alkaline, that helps offsets the acid rain problem. A rapidly growing douglas fir tree pulls 6 tons of carbon from the atmosphere every year while expelling oxygen, contrast that with .57 of a ton of carbon for the cedar tree.

Western Pine Beetle, the beetles breed in and kill scattered, over mature, slow-growing, diseased trees and trees weakened by stand stagnation, lightning, fire, or mechanical injury. When a Douglas fir tree reaches about 80 it has reached about the end of its growing life span and it is more susceptible to beetles and disease. By utilizing a portion of Oregon's forests we can employ thousands of workers in living wage jobs stimulating the economy. By harvesting the trees and burning what's leftover on large sections of forest we break the cycle of disease and death caused by the mismanagement of court battles and government agencies. Burning of what's leftover cuts the acidity of soil and water and kills bugs and diseases, then replanting completes the cycle. Young rapidly growing Douglas fir trees are one of the most efficient carbon removal systems available! Now the oceans are becoming more acidic as well and would be helped by the same process. When you warm water it does not change the PH.

Those who believe global warming is a problem and carbon is contributing, should be behind this plan, when a tree dies in the forest and begins to decay, the carbon it has inhaled is released into the atmosphere! So if the tree is 80 it will release 480 tons of carbon into the atmosphere, if the same tree is cut down for Lumber and homes are constructed with the wood, the carbon remains locked in the dwelling! A rapidly growing Douglas fir tree removes 6 tons of carbon from the atmosphere annually. That is more than the average family of 4 produces! With an intelligent plan, we can have it all clean air, water, healthy forests and jobs! A vibrant economy is necessary for good environmental stewardship, Oregonians care about our environment, we need to take control of Oregon's forest back, The federal government was limited in the Constitution to a small plot of ground now called Washington DC. Each state should have control of the lands within it. The people of the state should determine how their lands are managed and should determine how the income from them is spent or invested.

We need to regain control of our government and our forests. We can put Oregon back to work, while improving the health of our environment.

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