The Forest Trust, a non-profit group in Santa Fe,
says logging doesn’t have to flatten forests. In a new publication,
the group describes the work of more than 30 groups that both
provide jobs and conserve resources in rural communities.
Forest-Based Rural Development Practitioners features mainly
non-profit groups in California, New Mexico and eastern states, but
it also lists a few in Montana, Oregon, Colorado and Idaho. A
common thread of locally controlled development runs through the
one-page profiles of each organization. In one innovative
partnership, California’s Hoopa Tribal Forestry group is writing a
10-year plan for the tribal logging company. The plan spells out
how the tribe will harvest fish, basket materials, acorns and
mushrooms, in addition to logs, which are the main source of tribal
income. Another group, the non-profit Madera Forest Products
Association in Vallecitos, N.M., contracts with the Forest Service
to control erosion, thin trees and harvest logs for adobe
structures, while also providing local jobs. To receive the free
booklet, write the Forest Trust, Box 519, Santa Fe, N.M. 87504
(505/983-8992).
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Guide for green loggers.
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