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Logging would help health of forests
Herald and News letter to editor by Joyce Jacobus, Chiloquin 7/29/08
It is time we let the loggers in to thin out the dead and dying trees in our forest, or we will have worse forest fires than California.
I am a hiker and most of our trails are full of dead and downed trees. If a fire starts, we will have no way to stop it and will lose our forests.
The drought has killed or weakened many of our trees and the bark beetles are taking over like up by Dead Horse and Campbell lakes.
The best way to help is let the loggers in to take out the dead and dying trees before a fires does. We really need the money from the logging to help our schools and roads. Loggers take good care of our forests by taking out the dead and dying trees and clearing out a lot of underbrush.
More cattle and other livestock also help keep the brush out of the forests. In the Green Springs area, the meadows look like a manicured lawn after the cattle mow them. Take the cattle out and the grass gets tall and dry and it becomes a fire hazard.
We must let the people who use and love our forests take care of them or we will loose them to forest fires.