AFTER THE FIRE, THE GREED

It’s obvious to anyone who lives up river in the Cascades on McKenzie Highway 126 that the plunder of our natural resources is going through a once in a lifetime massive clearcut. The steal is on, with loaded log trucks racing down river and empty log trucks racing back up river again.

Thankfully, our neighborhood was saved from the Holiday Farm Fire by a small copse of trees that allowed the fire to quickly die within a 100 yards of us. The mixture of the ages of trees in our forest from small to old growth gave it the chance to withstand the fire and eventually starved it until the fire died out.

The locals up here have enjoyed walking in this beautiful woods for many years, so recently we were horrified to see that a road has been dug into the forest that is often the first step in the process of logging. These trees took the fire and choked it. Yes, there is some scorching in the lowest 20 feet or so, but when you look up you can see that the canopy is clearly green and the trees are very much alive.

There is absolutely no reason to fall these majestic old growth trees. Only one word fits this scenario and that is pure greed!

If something isn’t done, and very soon, we will have seen the last of our National Scenic Highway.

Michael C. Carney

Kathleen S. Carney

Walterville