That Oregon and Washington landowners who have been aggressively pushing increasing raw log volumes into the Chinese market wake up and realize the advantages of providing a reliable supply of logs to locally-owned domestic sawmills that provide family wage jobs and economic benefits to the communities in which they operate. These sawmills are good long-term customers for logs and will continue to invest in upgrades to be competitive with a timber supply that is secure. The alternative is these sawmills continue to disappear and landowners will have to rely on Chinese customers with a history of leaving markets as quickly as they arrive.
That Senator Wyden will sit down with key House members from Oregon and Washington to negotiate a compromise bill that will allow for sustainable forestry and economic opportunity in struggling rural counties without the ongoing litigation that threatens the social fabric of these areas that are distant from Portland and Seattle. The alternative is additional welfare from Washington D.C. or the urban areas that refuse to engage in meaningful reform of a broken sustainability model.
That moderate environmental organizations will work to overcome the minority radical organizations that have locked up almost all activity on our federal forests. Litigation through abuse of the Endangered Species Act of even small harvest plans that are supported by the majority of citizens has threatened the health of our public forests. The resulting catastrophic wild fires that release greenhouse gas emissions and threaten the safety of our towns and fire fighters are the real threat to our environment.
That people in urban areas actually get out in our forests and learn the truth about the water quality. Polling consistently shows a public concern about water quality, but if you visit our amazing forests you will see that the water quality is excellent and that salmon are returning in record numbers. The riparian tree buffers along streams and Forest Practices Act rules along with landowner improvement projects have made the water quality in these areas far superior to urban areas and other parts of the country.
That the Oregon Board of Forestry and stakeholder groups agree on a revised state forest management plan that achieves harvest levels and necessary revenue targets for schools and local government while still providing environmental and recreation benefits for all Oregonians. The Northwest state forests grow over 300 million board feet of timber every year, so if we annually harvest 260 million board feet we can meet economic targets while growing our on-the-ground timber inventory year after year for future generations.
That we put partisan politics behind us and let the moderates in the middle drive public policy versus the radical fringe groups on either end of the political spectrum that threaten the well being of our overall society.
That we achieve a safe and successful start-up of the new Babine sawmill in Burns Lake, British Columbia. We have worked hard and the employees and community are excited and deserve a fresh start with a new modern facility.
Modest objectives, how hard can it be?
Steve Zika
CEO, Hampton Lumber