Montana Forest Action Plan is not based on science
The Montana Forest Action Plan (MFAP), described in the Dec. 30 Chronicle article, is a political document not a science-based document. The term “forest health” was not developed based on science and ecology but from a forest products industry wish list based on economic falsehoods. It is promotion of logging under the guise of forest health using fire as a boogeyman and is a classic example of transferring public resources to private interests. The term forest health is nothing more than a prescription for chainsaw medicine from the forest management pharmacy.
A possibly illegal activity revealed in this plan is listed under “Montana Forests in Focus Accomplishments.” “Granting more than $150,000 over the past three years to support counties in filing amicus briefs in support of USFS projects to support collaborative groups that have county commissioner representation.” This is or should be illegal use of public funds to support special interest legal costs for intervention again citizen groups opposed to USFS plans. The MFAP is directed and funded by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, DNRC.
A local example of this agency’s great work is the ongoing disaster on Mt. Ellis where a third logging project is planned this summer. DNRC refuses to manage the illegal recreation at Mt. Ellis by not enforcing the requirement to purchase a $10 state lands recreation permit to access DNRC state lands.
Paul D. Griffin
Bozeman
ESA revisions are a threat to imperiled Canada lynx
We must act fast to ensure Canada lynx do not face extinction. The outgoing federal administration proposed revisions which threaten to weaken the Endangered Species Act. If these revisions go through, they will prioritize timber sales over the protection of threatened species, including Canada lynx, potentially pushing many of them to the brink of extinction.
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is the most comprehensive program to save and restore endangered species in the world. The ESA has prevented over 99% of the species protected under the Act from going extinct.
Canada lynx are a threatened, snow dependent species. The ESA regulations which require the Forest Service to re-consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the impacts of forest plans
when new science becomes available are the only protections that exist for Canada lynx. Eliminating these regulations, the only regulations that currently protect Canada lynx and threatened species like them, strips endangered species of the protection they need to survive and recover.
I want to encourage the Bozeman community to consider submitting comments on this important and urgent issue. Public comments are due Feb. 11, 2021. You can write and submit your own
comments, or reach out to Cottonwood Environmental Law Center for assistance.
Kyle Kearney
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letters to the Editor 1/27/21