Dear HCN,
I’d like to comment on
the article about Habitat Conservation Plans, in which biologist
Lorin Hicks says that his company, Plum Creek Timber, began
changing its timber management philosophy in 1990 and is working to
become environmentally responsible (HCN, 8/4/97). I’m a
logger/conservationist who lives near Plum Creek’s hometown,
Columbia Falls, Mont., and I’m familiar with their
history.
Evidently, Plum Creek believes that the
size of their public relations budget reflects their dedication to
becoming environmentally responsible. Although they have shifted
from clear-cutting toward selective logging, under the green label
of “Environmental Forestry,” Plum Creek is still cutting the
dominant, most valuable trees in the forest. That’s why they’re
known in these parts as the company that “cuts the best and leaves
the rest.”
To Plum Creek, the well-being of the
land has always been secondary to the quarterly profit report.
Nothing has changed in this respect.
My friend
Tom once told me that, “Logging for Plum Creek is like gut-shooting
a buffalo to take the tongue.”
Here in northwest
Montana, the old herd bulls and lead cows are just about extinct.
We will all be poorer for their
passing.
Bob
Love
Columbia Falls,
Montana
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Plum Creek hasn’t changed.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
