| In The News #7 >> | ||
>> TITLE Big Business and Alaskan Logging Lead Story-Dateline: >> SUMMARY The Bush administration proposes to exclude Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from a prohibition on building new roads adopted near the end of Clinton’s last term. The implementation of the prohibition has been delayed pending review by the Bush administration. A recent compromise to exclude the Tongass from the prohibition stemmed from the Forest Service’s attempt to pacify timber interests and environmentalists. Officials in the state of Alaska felt the road ban would harm the
state’s
economy and filed suit against the Federal government to exclude the
Tongass. The environmentalists feel the compromise places the world’s
largest intact coastal temperate rainforest in grave danger and have
solicited support from big business. In an unusual move, three major
wood products consumers have joined forces and written letters in support
of the road ban. Forest service officials maintain that support would
carry more weight if the companies were direct consumers of Tongass
products. A final decision is expected within one year.
>> Thinking About the Future Environmental issues continue to be some of the most hotly debated social issues of our time. We humans consume resources, both renewable and nonrenewable, and increases in population place greater demands on these resources every year. Some of the “renewable” resources, such as old growth timber, cannot be replaced in centuries. The question of protecting areas like the Tongass National Forest becomes one of priority. Should this wilderness area be preserved pristine for future generations, or should it be selectively harvested so that the world’s population can benefit from consumption of these resources? I think part of the problem is “out of sight, out of mind.” Since most of us will never visit or see the Tongass, we fail to have an appreciation for protecting this national treasure. Even if the environmentalists prevail at the current time, the debate will resurface in the next generation.
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