Environmental Groups: Poll Supports Logging Ban
Copyright 2001 KOIN Channel 6000
June 28, 2001
A new poll commissioned by a coalition of environmental groups finds overwhelming support for saving old growth forests.
The survey says that three out of every four residents of Oregon and Washington want to protect the old trees from logging.
A spokesman for the timber industry calls the survey question ambiguous, however, saying that it is open to interpretation.
Even in counties where 25 years ago logging was king, a clear majority of those surveyed said "save the old growth."
In counties where timber sales fuel the economy, 67 percent supported protection.
"These polls are very suspect in terms of the way they're asked," Ross Mickey of the Forest Resource Council says.
Instead, he says he would ask: "If you knew that 90 percent of old growth was already protected, would you support the loss of 2,000 jobs to save the rest?"
Pollster Adam Davis says that a question regarding logging old-growth was narrow and specific, but said that it did not address logging on public land.
The poll does suggest that values and attitudes have changed, with respondents saying that they want to save the forests for clean water and air, and for endangered species.
Mickey suggests trading the remaining old growth for second generation growth trees.