I attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Rocky Mountain Station Laboratory in Fort Collins a few weeks ago and when I heard this speech I thought it was an excellent insight on his vision and priorities. Note his beginning discussion of the importance of outdoor recreation to the US public and to rural economies. And the importance of forests to reducing greenhouse gases through the use biomass for fuel. It is very exciting for a Secretary of Agriculture to show this kind of passion for, interest in, and knowledge about our forests.
Here’s the Youtube link.
Vilsack is a good speaker, and covers a lot of points in the speech. It’s refreshing to have a Secretary who learns and understands the issues. That being said, his speech seemed to be purely political, not going into any specifics. (Which is probably wise, because of the desire to have site-specific data and documentation in which to base decisions on.)
Many years ago, my brother and his family were travelling and they stopped at a campground near to where I was stationed. The area had burned in a botched prescribed fire several years before and, the comments were, “Boy this place is ugly!”. They had driven through other areas of fat Jeffrey pines and lush mixed conifers.
How long will it be before tourists will want to recreate in beetle-killed forests that will be left to “recover” on their own? How many tourists will stay away from the “Dead Rockies”? I’ll bet winter recreation will also be impacted on a large scale, too. Clearcut the ski areas? LOVELY!
I just don’t believe that there is a political solution to the problems, and hence, we will be left with the lowest common denominator, despite the horrific impacts we are already seeing.