Bitterroot Humanities – ‘The Extents of International Aid?’ 10/11 – Recap: ‘The Future of Logging in the Bitterroot’

The next discussion will be held October 11th, from 5-6 pm, upstairs at the Bitterroot Brewery.

The next discussion will be on, ‘The Extents of International Aid?’

The next presenter will be Mr. Alexander Aston, first year Philosophy graduate student and Zimbabwean native.

The discussion on, ‘The Future of Logging in the Bitterroot’ included:

From Father Ravalli’s time in Stevensville till approximately the beginning of 1990’s, logging was in its heyday. Marcus Daly built a spur line down from Missoula which allowed for the valley to export its lumber products to the hungry smelting and mining operations in the Anaconda/Butte area. Yet from the 1990’s on an approximate 90% decline of the valley’s logging industry has taken place, with the recent culmination of the closing of Smurfit-Stone in Missoula and Plum Creek in Bonner. Such decline is due in part to global competition from Alaska, to Canada, to the Amazon.

In light of this decline across the state, Senator Tester has introduced the ‘’Forest Jobs and Recreation Act’ in part to try and provide effective management of our wood products. The bill has gone through multiple revisions and is currently under committee. We had discussion on two aspects of this bill.

First, a provision of the bill mandates that a specific quota of lumber will be harvested from a given ecosystem over a time period of 10-15 years. Discussion was had over whether this provision is sustainable from two aspects, first that of what the given forest can handle, and second, what the market could reasonably distribute. With regards to the latter, it seems that the government would have to provide some sort of subsidy to make sure a glut would not result from such mandates.

Second, we discussed a provision that seeks to take advantage of Beetle kill timber and utilize it as fuel for Biomass boilers, much as the Fuels for Schools http://www.fuelsforschools.info/
program currently implemented by Darby and Victor schools. While at first the idea seems to have merit, one point was brought up. First, with a mandated harvest for the production of fuel, communities could run into a situation where beetle kill becomes exhausted and green timber has to be utilized to continue to fuel the burners. In a situation like this, the energy required to harvest, dry and chip the lumber might not pencil out in Biomass’s favor.

From Tester’s bill the discussion bounced around to appropriate reduction of fuels in community areas, the glut in the market resulting in multiple timber sales in the valley currently without any open bids, to discussion on appropriate mechanisms to ensure all parties have a seat at the table when it comes to creating policies that take into account all interests.

And finally, the logical fallacy of the week is the appeal to authority. This fallacy holds that when an individual in a position of power makes a claim, that in fact the claim is true regardless of the merits of the claim. By way of example…

"Logging is the only way Bitterroot’ers can sustain our economy."

"Why?"

"Because I worked as a logger for the past 30 years."

Or…

"Logging is a crime to nature."

"Why?"

"Because I have a PhD in forest ecology."

Thanks again. Enjoy the day and see you at 5 this Monday at the Brewery. Grab a drink and a seat early so we can begin promptly at 5.

-Zack Rogala

-Information on the forest industry can be viewed at:
http://www.bber.umt.edu/forest/default.asp

-Information on Fuels for Schools can be found at: http://www.fuelsforschools.info/pdf/BitterrootValley_Experiences_with_FuelsforSchools.pdf

-Information on Biomass in general can be found at:
http://www.bber.umt.edu/forest/Biomass.asp