Nicolet Forest (Wisc.) Interests Require Delicate Balance
8/30/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Nicolet Forest (Wisc.) Interests Require Delicate Balance
Source: St. Paul (Minnesota) Pioneer Press
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: August 30, 1999
ARGONNE, WIS. - The future of a national forest that covers 1.5
million acres in northern Wisconsin is being decided through a
process that has timber interests, environmentalists and ATV users in
contentious camps.
``I want this to be here for future generations, too,'' said 28-year-
old lumberjack Kiel Jameson, who cuts trees in the Chequamegon-
Nicolet National Forest, just like his father and grandfather did.
Lumber workers, such as Jameson, would like to see the U.S. Forest
Service continue, or increase, the timber harvest. Environmentalists
demand an end to commercial logging; they would like the forests to
return to their former majesty, replete with old growth trees and
rare animals.
And drivers of all-terrain and four-wheel drive want more trails and
better access to the heart of the woods.
The U.S. Forest Service developed the existing plan for the
Chequamegon-Nicolet during the Reagan administration. Now, new plans
are being developed to guide forest use, according to the Forest
Service's eastern region office, based in Milwaukee.
``It's the big picture for the forests for the next 10 to 15 years.
We have to manage for all uses -- water quality, wildlife,
recreation, wilderness, forest products,'' said Jane Cliff, a
spokeswoman for the eastern region.
In Wisconsin, Mike Miller leads a team of planners gauging public
opinion and developing alternatives to help resolve demands on the
forest. Later this year, forest planners hope to release a draft of
how each alternative would affect the forest. The final plan should
be ready sometime next year.
To the timber interests and many tiny northern towns, the woods are
key to a successful economy. All told, the timber harvest in the
national forest, according to the Forest Service, supports more than
1,700 full-time jobs.
Also, the timber taken sustains several businesses and small
communities, says Nadine Bailey, president of the Timber Producers
Association of Michigan and Wisconsin, an organization that backs an
increased allotment of timber available to loggers.
``The forests are so resilient and healing of themselves,'' she says.
``You can make a lot of mistakes, as we have in the past, and they
still recover.''
In addition, local governments with tax-exempt federal lands receive
payments from Washington -- a quarter from every dollar the U.S.
Forest Service gathers from timber sales -- to pay for schools and
roads.
However, environmental activists question the value of selling
national forest timber. Logging in national forests has cost
taxpayers $88 million, at last count.
The Forest Service blames the red ink in part on calculations that
now take into account the cost of maintaining roads used by loggers.
The Chequamegon-Nicolet netted about $2 million from timber sales in
1997, according to the forest service. But environmental groups say
that when other costs are taken into account, the national forest in
Wisconsin lost $1.5 million.
``We've cut the hell out of the forest; what do we have to show for
it? A loss of money and a loss of habitat,'' asks Gaylord Nelson, a
counselor to The Wilderness Society and a former Wisconsin governor
and U.S. senator.
In Congress, legislation has been introduced to end the commercial
timber harvest on federal lands. The measure would redirect logging
subsidies toward worker retraining, ecological restoration, research
and local tax relief.
Donald Waller, a University of Wisconsin-Madison botanist, and others
propose leaving undisturbed large blocks of forest, perhaps 100,000
acres at a crack.
``If we're concerned about restoring the character and majesty of
older forests, this is the time and place to do it,'' Waller said.
All-terrain and off-road vehicle enthusiasts also are interested in
the fate of the forest. Today, there are 100,000 ATVs in the state
and their numbers continue to grow, says Randy Harden, president of
the Wisconsin ATV Association.
ATVs have caused rutting and erosion in some areas, said Miller of
the Forest Service. And he asks: ``How do ATVs and quiet activities
like hiking and wildlife-watching mesh?''
Harden worries that greater emphasis on ``quiet activities'' means
fewer opportunities for ATV riders.
``There is a concern that there will be more and more wilderness and
less and less for us,'' Harden said.
Despite the divergent opinions, there are enough resources within the
forest that, if managed properly, can satisfy a range of interests,
said Paul Strong, a spokesman for the Chequamegon-Nicolet.
``Large sections do not necessarily have to be set aside to achieve
the goal of restoring the forest to its former state,'' Strong says.
``That can be done, to a certain extent, throughout the forest while
serving other requirements as well.''