Writer should support Forest Legacy Program
This is in response to the editorial by Bob Vickaryous in the Nov. 19 issue of The Bonners Ferry Herald.
Bob questions Kennon McClintock’s defense of Commissioner Ron Smith and accuses Kennon of having an ulterior motive for launching this defense.
Bob claims that Ron Smith “and company” contributed to the economic decline of Boundary County by enacting highly restrictive planning and zoning regulations. Current planning and zoning regulations have little, if any, negative effects on our local business environment.
Boundary County suffered a severe economic setback when one of its two major sawmills closed permanently several years ago. The county can no longer support two high-production sawmills because the availability of logs is inadequate.
The primary cause of this timber shortage is the drastic reduction of the annual harvest on the Idaho Panhandle and Kootenai National Forests. This decline in annual harvest has occurred on national forests throughout the nation due to a number of factors. Local politicians can certainly not be legitimately blamed for this situation.
Bob suggests that Kennon’s defense of Ron Smith is due to the commissioner’s support for the potential enrollment of Forest Capital land into the Forest Legacy Program. I know that this is not the case. He took this stand because he does not like to see people wrongfully maligned in the editorial section of the paper.
It is commendable that Forest Capital chooses to place its Mcarthur Lake forestlands in the Forest Legacy Program. This program helps to conserve resource-based lands as working lands, assuring that they will never be converted to home sites, no matter who owns them.
The development rights are purchased by the federal government. With the loss of timber volume from our national forests, it is to our economic benefit to keep private forestlands in a productive condition. The Forest Legacy Program does just that.
If Bob is concerned about the economic stability of Boundary County, he should be a staunch supporter of the Forest Legacy Program. I am stunned that Bob, as a long-time advocate of private property rights, is speaking out against the right of Forest Capital to handle its land as it sees fit. He should support the right of Forest Capital and any other landowners to handle their lands as they wish, without interference or condemnation.
Bob mentioned that Forest Capital doesn’t intend to develop the land in the first place. I wonder how he knows the intentions of the company. How can he predict the intentions of future owners? This land has changed hands several times since I have lived in Boundary County.
I can predict that it will change hands many times in the future. If the development rights are not tied up, I am certain the some future owner will subdivide and develop it.
Bob’s comment that I found the most irritating was his accusation that Kennon is facilitating the enrollment of the lands into the Forest Legacy Program to enrich himself and Forest Capital. This is totally false. Kennon works for Forest Capital as a forest manager.
His professional and personal desire to maintain these company forestlands as working lands in perpetuity are certainly good for Boundary County. How can anyone fault him for such an altruistic motive? Forest Capital should be commended for being progressive in its management by enrolling in this program.
I believe that citizens should be sure that they have their facts straight when writing editorials in the local newspaper. Making false accusations can be the most detrimental to the author. The truth generally prevails in the long run.
Jim Cadnum