Salvage logging proposed in our national forests has drawn objections from some people. It should be noted that the proposed work represents just a fraction of the work professional foresters would do on state and private lands. The work would be carried out with the goal of improving long-term forest health and diversity and would , as a side benefit, provide jobs and wood products.

Informed observers' greatest concern is that the proposed salvage be carried out soon enough to minimize the ravages of horrible wildfire. This salvage logging will have very positive impacts upon nature and it will improve the long term health of our forests.

We must shift the species composition in many of our intermountain forests back to drought-, insect-, and wildfire-tolerant species, such as Ponderosa pine, and away from white fir and Douglas fir. The densities of the stands must be reduced to health levels. We have too many trees; and forests, like people, fail when overcrowded.

Once this work has been done and the forest has sustainable density and species, prescribed fire can be one of the tools used to maintain the forest.

People concerned about the treatment of the forest tend to also be avid promoters of recycling. Yes, we do need to provide for ample levels of woody debris in our forests to provide habitat and nutrient cycling. But we could throw all of our cans, bottles, and paper in the dump for years and never come close to the waste represented by the failure to salvage blow down, fire-killed, diseased and bug-infested trees in our national forests.

Millions of board feet waste away right now in Benton County and billions elsewhere. By our inaction we are putting at risk not only our forests, but the funding of social services. If we spend all of our resources fighting wildfire, we can't spend it on social needs. Couldn't it just be that families in timber dependant communities might be self-sufficient and not need handouts if they were able to retain their productive forest jobs? Sweet Home and Oakridge have been nearly destroyed by cuts in national forest harvesting. Those communities could thrive and their citizens could be proud if they had jobs instead of being on the dole. I would feel blessed if none of us had to be on welfare. Failure to manage and use our federal forests guarantees that we waste trees and destroy human dignity

I would like to add that I have not personal stake in this; Starker Forests does not rely on federal timber for our livelihood. However, all of us stand to gain if the health of our forests and the hearts and souls of our timber dependent communities can be revived through sound logging practices and responsible forest management. Think about it before you decide.