From: JIM.DIXON@f240.n353.z1.fidonet.org (JIM DIXON)
Newsgroups: k12.ed.science
Subject: logging jobs
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 93 09:33:00 PDT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:353/240 - The Polish Connecti, Westbank BC

 Jim Dixon is responding to Dean Mesenbrink's bytes to All
 about logging jobs

Hello Dean;

 DM> Hello. I am Dean Mesenbrink and I have lived in a logging
 DM> community for 16 years now. In fact my father has owned a saw mill
 DM> for more than 35 years. I would like to talk about how many works
 DM> about 400 are loggers. The next to be affected would be the mill
 DM> community about 50 people are carpenters. Home building suppliers
 DM> will also be affected because they sell great amounts of lumber.
 DM> About 20 people that work at local building suppliers will be put
 DM> out of work.

You appear to have a easonable understanding of your local economy and what
you envision may be partly true.  However, if you look at your history,
you'll notice that many towns have come and gone.  There are hundreds of
similar cases involving mining, forestry and rail stops...all now gohost
towns.  The people moved to where the jobs were.

Unfortunately, history will also show (as the rend still continues) that
when an area no longer has sufficient trees of quality standards, the major
logging company packs up and moves to another area leaving the loggers,
mill employees and town to fend for itself.  Replanting trees has not been
proven a short or long term solution and they don't grow fast enough in
most areas to continuously support logging and the company moves.

 DM> If these people are put out of work they will not have money
 DM> to spend at local stores. Sence the previously described people

I like to refer to what you describe as a domino effect and this is true of
most areas that depend solely on one major industry.  I too live a forestry
community...our whole province is dependant on logging forest products. I
have had the opportunity of observing the effects of clear-cut. Clear-cut
has reduced the number of fish.  When a area is cleared, the local ecology
is destroyed.  The rains wash away valuable top soil into rivers and
streams leaving silt on fish egss, smothering the eggs; the rivers become
jammed with debris preventing spawning fish from reaching their goal.  The
end result are fishermen our of work. Fewer fish and demand raises the
price to you and I at the local market.

Re-planting has been used for a lot longer in britain and they are finding
that the 3rd and 4th generation trees are of such poor quality that they
are not worth the effort to harvest.  The death of the trees ecology leaves
the 3rd and 4th generations too without their natural habitat. The result
is poor quality, stunted growth, erosion, disease ridden and worthless.

I just received samples of tree-free paper. Paper that will last 1500 years
as compared to paper made from trees that lasts 75 years (due to acids in
the paper), uses fewer chemicals and releases no dioxins as does
conventional paper process.  You can call a toll-free number in the u.s.
and request a sample at 1-800-775-0225.  The logic here is to help those
communities who have logged out their area and the logging company has
pulled up stakes and moved to turn their mills around and produce tree-free
paper.  Tree-free produces 4.1 times more paper per acre than trees and uses
90% less chamicals making it more environmentally friendly.

There are many small cities and towns suffering the loss of companies
pulling out diue to a lack of quality trees.  Clear-cut areas could support
growing and harvesting for producing tree-free paper. This would help those
towns get back on their feet, produce jobs and a product that is more
environmentally fiendly, cheaper paper products than most acid-free /cotton
blend papers.

 DM> Now think about this. There are many more communities like
 DM> ours across there Northwest. If all logging is stopped across the
 DM> nation whole logging and milling companies will go out of business.

If all logging continues, there will more towns whose main source of
employment has moved away...and they leave behind their employees. Perhaps
not next year, but in time...this is the trend.  What will your town do
then?  What will you do if you take over your dad's operation but don't
have the quality or quantity of tree to suppot the operation?

 DM> equiptment. Big companies such as John Deere and Cat. will be
 DM> forced to lay people off. Other big companies like Temco,
 DM> who's sales are mostly logging equiptment, will go out of buisness.

These companies can easily alter their operation to manufacture equipment
to support the harvesting and production of tree-free paper.

 DM> Logging of evergreen trees is not detrimental to our
 DM> environment because trees can easily be replanted. But if we stop

Re-planting is not proven method effective.  On the contrary, in Europe it
is failing miserably do to the loss of the ecology along with clear-cut.

 DM> logging we are talking about a huge recession in America. If you
 DM> think the recession now is bad, wait until the woods are shut down

Then perhaps it is wise for forestry communities to start looking at
alternative industry...in other words, diversify.

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