I am 60 years old and although I grew up in a logging community and have friends and family in the logging business, and have understanding and empathy for them, I have seen a trend of degradation to the earth, roads, waters because of the increasingly rampant irresponsibility of the way logging companies go about doing their job. Clearcutting causes huge drainage issues which cause landslides and flooding. I have experienced both as a result of logging: I was isolated/cut off in my own little neighborhood, unable to reach services because of a landslide to the immediate left (north side) of the access road (Ridgeview) on Miami Foley rd and flooding on the south end of Miami Foley rd. I have also had five inches of water right up to my house that prevented me from going in the front door because of clearcutting above my house. I have had helicopters spray herbicides on the hills above my house. My water comes from a well and what goes into the ground goes into the water. I have seen the water in the creek on my property become more and more brown with sediment. I have seen this in the bays in our area as well. I have seen and been impacted by landslides in our area caused by logging as they often go over roads and into our streams (which is where we obtain our drinking water).
Various protective barriers to wetlands, dairies, etc have been lessened or eliminated, again impacting our drinking water.
The more we cut down trees, the less the trees can suck the water out of the earth, and hence, landslides. It also impacts tourism, tourists come for the beauty. There isn’t much beauty in a clearcut. It impacts wildlife,… in the short run, that is a local issue, but in the long term, as the consequences of each species being impacted ripples out, it impacts the whole planet. Species are rapidly going extinct because of human’s callous disregard of their needs for survival, including habitat. We are part of that circle of life. If the species “below” us humans go extinct, we will also eventually be impacted. For instance, the pollinators are impacted by the sprays that logging companies use. One species dwindling impacts another species that depends on it for life. Eventually, the human species will be one that is impacted and go extinct if we do not change our methods of living on the planet.
This isn’t just about our daily lives. The larger picture is will we have a livable planet. Climate change has already shown itself in weather pattern changes including inland tornadoes (one of which dropped two huge trees onto my house and two cars and caused extensive damage to all three. We had to move out of our house for quite a while.) Check out the weather pattern changes over the decades. Trees are a huge factor in mitigating climate change.
Please, don’t let logging companies irresponsibly degrade our planet, our water, our food (pollinators) our air, our roads, our neighborhoods.
Thank you,
M. Clark
Nehalem, Or.