By Glenn Wiggins
THE BACKDROP OF Sequim is largely in the Olympic National Forest, a green mantle created by Mother Nature and, yes, by logging.
Somehow, this very effective management program is being called into question, though there is no sign of desecration.
It is simply highly productive forestland doing what it does best: growing trees.
Those who question this process have been emboldened by the complacent reaction of the public who are obviously unaware of the long term implications of the Northwest Forest Plan, enacted in 1994.
One of the hallmarks of this legislation is to tear out the road system which eliminates access to the timber resource, historically the main source of funds for managing the forests.
The reasons given by the Forest Service are two: water quality and aquatic resources.
So armed with this information, I took a drive to see these roads close up and to assess their obvious harm to these resources.
At random, I chose five roads listed for decommissioning. Surprisingly none of them had even the slightest potential to cause the problems that had been raised.
The grades were gentle, the water draining easily, the water bars functioning, the fills stable and simple maintenance a certainty.
These roads had been built for a reason: to assure a continued supply of timber.
Finding well-stocked, viable plantations ages 15, 20 and 35 years planted at public expense, was no surprise.
But the real surprise is that tearing out the roads does not create a furor.
How would we react if other public roads were torn out despite their value and necessity?
U.S. Rep. Norm Dicks has introduced legislation [along with Sen. Patty Murray] to expand wilderness once again, suggesting that the long-term benefits of this designation are compelling.
So while traveling, I looked at some of these areas as well.
Apparently, U.S. forest managers can no longer be trusted to care for our trees and to assure their perpetual yield while protecting the resources under their care.
The green mantle behind Sequim suggests otherwise. It’s a success story, not even remotely threatening anything.
This wilderness idea is a fallacy, particularly in areas such as this.
It is mainly supported by an elite group of well-financed, highly educated and skillful people who enjoy the backcountry under their own terms.
It does not consider the disenfranchised, i.e., those who do not have the time, the physical fitness, or even the resources to outfit themselves adequately for the backcountry.
These people are left out of these areas and soon will be excluded permanently by de facto wilderness (no roads) or legislated wilderness as Congressman Dicks proposes as his swan song.
In either case, the definition of wilderness as described in the Wilderness Act of 1964 does not apply to these acres.
The areas chosen for road removal and wilderness designation do not measure up today nor have they in the past when considered. They were excluded purposely.
These acres are simply timberland, today, tomorrow and forever.
To suggest that a wilderness designation will improve employment is, at the least, implausible.
More importantly it sacrifices, forever, the potential that these lands provide for our tax base, the support for schools and public roads and, most importantly, for the creation and maintenance of family-wage jobs.
We can all sit idly by and watch these things as they occur or we can object, loudly and long, for the good of our people and those who follow us.
You can be certain that these folks will thank us for these efforts, so vital for their future well-being.
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Glenn Wiggins is a retired forest-products industry worker and manager and a former mayor of Port Angeles.
