The co-ordinanted attack on the Reconveyance continues...
The peculiarly factose intolerant Jack Petree has now illustrated how he will be opposing the Reconveyance, and the Lake Whatcom Forest Preserve that passage of the Reconveyance will allow.
Here is a link to Mr. Petree's environmental blog.
Yes... environmental blog.
And, no, it's not a satirical blog like The Onion, either.
My understanding of Mr Petree's latest post is that he believes (and wants his readers to believe) that old growth forests pose a bigger threat to climate change than forest that is commercially forested.
I'll select some of the choicest quotes from the entry on which I shall call Bravo Sierra.
Mr Petree asserts that Old Growth Forests are "...less bio-diverse than newer forests..."
Bravo Sierra.
The assertion that old growth forest is demonstrably, or even ostensibly, less bio-diverse than other forms of forest land is a claim that requires substantial evidence to support it. Mr. Petree offers nothing more than cheeky rhetorical aggression to support his claim.
But wait... there's more...
... A 50 - 100 year old stand of alder trees is an old growth forest. ...Oh, Bravo to the carbon sequestering Sierra.
...
In British Columbia, Canada, old growth is defined as 120 to 140 years of age in the interior of the province where fire is a frequent and natural occurrence. In British Columbia’s coastal rainforests, old growth is defined as trees more than 250 years, with some trees reaching more than 1,000 years of age. ...
This is from Wikipedia, so your mileage may vary... but Wikipedia's cited source for this entry is a document from British Columbia's Ministry of Forests, published in 2003.
The forest land in the area of the Reconveyance is not going to qualify as Old Growth Forest in our lifetimes. Maybe... MAYBE... sometime in the 22nd Century, there will be Old Growth Forest in the Lake Whatcom Watershed.
Now feast your eyes on this...
... global warming has been replace by climate change by the spin doctors of the environmental movement ...
Oh, Bravo to the entire Sierra.
This one really hurts. Because now, Mr Petree isn't even trying.
This one is easily provably false.
Climate Change replaced Global Warming because of this guy...
Frank Lutz.
Lutz has been the go-to political consultant of conservatives since the early 1990s. And he advocated long ago that the term "climate change" should be used in favor of "global warming".
Mr. Lutz has taken full, frequent and public credit for the current use of the term "Climate Change" in favor of "Global Warming".
Mr Lutz can wear many labels but "spin doctor of the environmental movement" does not number among them.
And, in a classic Aesop-like case of "careful what you wish for", the term Climate Change has now been adopted culturally by the mainstream. And, guess what... the climate is a-changin'. Ooops.
Mr Petree doesn't appear to be in the same quadrant of the galaxy as the facts at this point.
My belief that Old Growth Forest has carbon sequestering properties that have the potential for mitigating, and not aggravating, the impact of climate change is not based solely on my own assertions.
Here are my sources...
The GEOS Institute
Scientific American
Ecology and Society
Conservation Report
Nature.com
If you disagree with me... well, I will find a way to piece my life together somehow. But my opinions on this matter are based on something more than just my desire to get under the skin of those who hold different political views.
If you have sources that you like better... oke dokey. Cite them.
But the scientific community remains stubbornly fact-based, in spite of all dogged and concerted efforts to politicize that community.
This is not a simple matter and can't be solved by a simple "common sense" argument.
Again, on Tuesday, September 11th, the Whatcom County Council will be holding a hearing on the matter of the Reconveyance and the Lake Whatcom Forest Preserve.
The critics of the Reconveyance, including the indefatigable Mr. Petree, will be there. They will be zealously advocating against the Reconveyance. And flipping even one vote on the Council could mean there is no Reconveyance.
Well, despite Mr. Petree's assertions, not every aspect of a city or county park system can be quantified. For instance, the mental health value of a walk in the woods is not known and there is no agreed upon methodology for valuing the carbon sequestration value of a park.
ReplyDeleteBut seven major factors - property value, tourism, direct use, health, community cohesion, clean water and clean air - have been discussed in detail by the scientific and economic communities. Granted, the science of community park economics is still in it's infancy. Nevertheless, we have an obligation as a community to consider the beneficial effect of the Reconveyance for the entire community, not just for the environmentalists or the conservatives, like Mr. Petree. I urge the County Council to support the Reconveyance and remind Mr. Petree and his flock that the beneficial uses of a park on the property in question may far outweigh the beneficial uses of future timber harvesting on the property. Even if the trees are only 100 to 125 years old. (I believe that some of the trees are older, but who am I to quibble with Mr. Petree)?
ApexNerd: FYI, the Dept of Ecology definition of Old-growth forests (west of Cascade crest in WA):
ReplyDelete"Stands of at least two tree species, forming a multi-layered canopy with occasional small openings; with at least 8 trees/acre (20 trees/hectare) that are at least 200 years of age or have a diameter at breast height (dbh) of 32 inches (81 cm) or more."