About the Photographer:

“As a life-long outdoorsman and a nature and wildlife photographer, the recent controversy surrounding the timber issues has been of particular interest to me. I devoted the past year to investigating some of the questions that have been raised: Are we in danger of losing all our old-growth forests to logging? Is the spotted owl threatened with extinction? Are the timber harvesters after quick profits at the public’s expense? I discovered the answer to all three questions is a resounding - NO!

“In reaching these conclusions I have talked with private and public foresters, wildlife biologists, Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management employees, loggers, timber cruisers, mill owners, lumber company officials, conservationists, environmentalists and preservationists. I explored and photographed all 20 of our Northwest national forests, traveled 50,000 miles and have taken more than 3,000 photographs. I have observed the broad spectrum of the state of our forests, from planted seedlings to thousand-year-old redwood trees.

“We are not losing all of our old growth forests to harvesting. The Owl does not appear to be in danger of extinction nor does it require old growth forests to live or nest in. Neither does it require thousands of acres for its individual habitat. I photographed many more owls in second and third growth stands of forests and several in under 100 acres of suitable habitation. I also discovered that great care is being taken and has been, to re-plant harvested areas. Usually with 5-6 times the number of trees that were actually harvested. Wildlife management and habitat areas have had tremendous care as well as watersheds, riparian areas of streams and rivers and much greater protection is being given to fisheries. What’s interesting is that these management techniques are not born of the ‘environmental/preservationist movement’, but have been in place for many years. In some cases for over 30 years or more.

“Yes, we have all witnessed abuses to our forests in the past decades however what I observed this year was an aggressive well designed, management program which has been in place for some years. One that is geared to provide true multiple-use benefits of our national forests; including wildlife management, recreation opportunities year-round, wood products thru sustained yield management, watershed and riparian area management to name only a few.

“One of the dangerous things that I did discover was that, due to the ‘preservationists movement’ we are in danger of losing these resources and the ability for all to enjoy them. This is due to the attitude that in order to protect these areas or species, it is necessary to ‘lock-it-up’. Thereby restricting road use, limiting or excluding the productive use of the areas’ natural resources, limiting fire suppression techniques, in some cases like Yellowstone, a ‘let-it-burn’ attitude and reducing many of the recreational opportunities. This also includes the type and number of people who might otherwise have access to these forests. Anyone who by choice or physical impairment, is limited to vehicle access is being denied use of many of these areas.

“Locking up our natural resources really only means, that a well designed plan to manage and maintain their multiple-use characteristics for all of our enjoyment, including wildlife, will be destroyed. We will lose our long tradition of being able to drive thru forests for a picnic on a Sunday afternoon, go for a swim to a favorite lake, go fishing along a stream that we have enjoyed for years, or hunting to a favorite spot. It also means that we will lose many of the advantages our wood products industry brings to our communities in the form of jobs, school and road support in the dollars from timber sales, as well as community stability.

“We have millions of acres of old growth that will never be harvested in our state and national parks and Wilderness areas. We have other millions of acres yet untouched within our national and state forests. There is more old growth in acres and square miles, that is already protected, than any human could ever possibly cover on its trails in a lifetime. We have more live trees growing today than we did 70 years ago, due to re-planting of harvested areas. These trees range from new seedlings to 2nd growth trees hundreds of feet tall that are growing into old growth. Our wildlife in these areas are abundant. Locking these areas up, only prevents a management plan already in place from succeeding and allows for the natural disasters’ of fire, disease and insect infestation to destroy the very thing we are trying to protect.

“Our public forests are in good shape overall and I think that the current management practices are for the most part sound. We are not in danger to losing our forests or our wildlife to responsible management.

“Enjoy our FORESTS - Our Renewable Resource.