Group pushes for land management
SUPERIOR - A natural resource advocacy group in Mineral County is working to put the economy of the area back on track and they are getting some help from people in high places.
A representative from the Mineral County Resource Advisory Group met with county commissioners on Friday to enlist their assistance in getting the logging industry in the area back on it’s feet.
Kevin Chamberlain with the Montana State University Extension Office and MCRAG said what his group and the commissioners want is to take advantage of the area’s natural resources in a responsible and sustainable way.
Chamberlain said with the help of commissioners and the Forest Service, millions of dollars could potentially be generated for the county by harvesting timber.
“The commissioners are extremely frustrated with land management within our county,” Chamberlain said. “Historically the economy in Mineral County has been a natural resource extraction-based economy. When logging went away, the economy went into decline and we’ve been in a vacuum ever since.”
Chamberlain said the economy in Mineral County has continued to decline with the loss of the logging industry. He said the problem lies with decision makers that do not call Mineral County home and are not affected by the ramifications of their land use policy.
“Everything that happens here is dictated by an entity somewhere else,” Chamberlain said. “Anything the forest service tries to do is stopped in the courts by people who don’t have to live with the consequences of those decisions. They don’t have to explain to their kid why their best friend has to move away because dad doesn’t have a job anymore.”
According to Mineral County Commissioner, Laurie Johnston, MCRAG has the full support of county officials. Johnston said managing natural resources in the area wasn’t simply about cutting down trees. She said responsible timber harvesting actually helps maintain viable wildlife habitat.
“We definitely need to do it,” Johnston said. “Our forests are in sad shape. Not only is it harming the economy, it’s detrimental to wildlife. Not managing is affecting wildlife habitat. It’s not just about the economy. Our forests are dying. We need logging. It’s either log it or it’s going to burn.”
Chamberlain reiterated the point made by Johnston that a lack of management was placing the county at risk of larger and more intense fire events.
He said without logging, the forest was becoming hazardously overgrown and was preventing the natural migration of wildlife.
“This place has a history of fire,” Chamberlain said. “Fire doesn’t discriminate. It’s going to go through whatever is in front of it. There’s ways to manage the woods. Our elk numbers are dropping because they are all down here. There’s nothing up there for them. It’s so thick they can’t get through.”
Chamberlain said moving forward would involve a collaborative effort on the part of local stake-holders. He said if a collaborative can be established with the Forest Service, county officials, MCRAG and others, the likelihood that a logging initiative can be defeated in the courts would diminish.
“We would like to see an active program of resource management in Mineral County,” Chamberlain said. “We would like to see log trucks rolling. We would like to see activities that are actually fixing roads instead of obliterating them. We would like to see access to areas and things enhanced. We will continue to work and learn and define what we can do.”