In lodgepole country.. this quote from Andrew King
“This facility is not a power plant,” King said. “It’s all about forest health, and energy is the byproduct.”
Discussions of a biomass energy plant in Vail in this article.
Another interesting story about the Ocala.. are these the kind of 21st Century National Forest issues that were pretty much unimagined when NFMA was passed?
Reading these two stories made me think 1) are forests across the country so different and dealing with such different issues that planning requirements will always poorly fit someone, and 2) to what extent are we still stuck in a veg-o-centric view of what the issues and problems are; have we really thought about planning for social and economic problems and needs of the future?
“While I may never visit those dead present and future wildernesses of the Rocky Mountains, it will be comforting to know that there will be millions of acres of protected dead forests out there.”
… and there was much rejoicing in the woodpecker and firefighter camps. The fight for sustainable wildfires has now begun!
Of course, Sharon, forests across the country are different and must address different issues, but planning is a political process, and national level standards for the planning PROCESS are essential. We know what most of the principles around the planning process are: tranparency, scientific assessment, deliberation, etc., but we remain lousy in setting up the planning “space,” both geographically (where are we planning what?) and politically (who is planning for whome?). As I mentioned in my last post on the fatal flaw article by Bethany (and I’ve only had two posts in the last month as I was on vacation), I’m not at all worried about being overly veg-o-centric. How we treat the trees will be a very good indicator of how we view the forests and the people who encounter it.
The Ocala story to which Sharon links illustrates well that much national forest management occurs outside of and unaffected by NFMA planning. That is at it should be. Congress passed NFMA to address one issue and one issue only — timber management.