Git yer chainsaws

Git yer chainsaws, boys.\nDecisions taken during September have put the issue of logging on the front burner of Indiana politics. Gov. Mitch Daniels has announced his intention to increase logging in the state five-fold in the next few years. His reasons for doing so seem primarily to revolve around putting more green in the state coffers rather than in our Hoosier forests, but his administration has also mumbled something about how increasing logging will help oak saplings grow. \nIt is interesting to note that Daniels intends to increase the cutting down of new growth trees under this same plan. Currently, the loggging industry cuts down about 12.5 percent of young trees in state forests. They intend to bump that number up to about 70 percent. If you can convincingly explain to me how chopping down the bulk of young trees in the forest meshes with the idea that you increase logging to help the young trees, I'll buy you a cookie.\nThe Daniels argument would likely be more convincing had his administration done an environmental impact study, something it is required to do it by state law. It might also be palatable if the idea was put forward and opened up to public comment on the idea, something that the U.S. Forestry Service does any time it is considering a similar change, rather than autocratically decreeing the move. However, the Daniels administration has done neither to date.\nThe Daniels plan does have some good ideas in it. In particular, I approve of the idea of using the largest portion of the revenues gained by the state for private conservation assistance and purchasing private forested land adjacent to existing forests. I would not be opposed to a smaller increase in logging if the benefits to the forest ecosystem as a whole would be improved by such a move. However, rather than seeking to promote the meritorious ideas contained in his problematic plan in a public forum, he simply enacted his idea. His disinterest in public comment and the generosity the plan shows toward lumber interests tends to discredit his argument that what he is doing is in the best interest of the forests and the people of Indiana.\nWe Hoosiers have been watching out for our forests for a long time. We stroll in them, camp in them, hunt in them and take pleasure in their existence. We are, in short, mighty partial to our woods. The incredibly cute (and endangered) Indiana brown bat and a wide array of other fauna depend on these woods as well. Making a mistake could be costly for them; for we who enjoy our natural bounty and for Daniels' future political prospects. Daniels would be well advised to put the brakes on his plan, give scientists the time they need to figure out what impact his plan will have and, above all, give us the chance to say whether or not we want this.