Reprieve for Old-Growth Forest in Kentucky
You'd think being part of a National Forest automatically protects all parts of that forest from commercial exploitation, but that's not how it works.
Bill Estep at the Herald:
Officials have canceled a proposal for commercial logging in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Rockcastle County that had caused concern about the potential impact on a pristine spring and trees hundreds of years old.The problem is that the U.S. Forest Service's primary official purpose is to "manage" America's forest "resources." If clear-cutting one of the last old-growth stands east of the Mississippi is more cost-effective than leaving it for future generations to enjoy and appreciate, then tough shit, you commie tree-lovers.
An official with the U.S. Forest Service confirmed the decision to the Herald-Leader and Kentucky Heartwood, a forest education and advocacy group which was against the plan.
Scheff said he has documented trees more than 250 years old in the Little Egypt area. One, a shortleaf pine more than 300 years old, is the second-oldest known tree of its species in the Eastern United States, he said.Ah, that explains it. Somebody is making money off this "natural resource" in its pristine condition. Otherwise, that forest would already be sawdust.
There also was particular concern that the logging and herbicide use could damage Climax Spring, one of the state's largest continuously flowing underground springs.
A local company bottles the high-quality water, and hundreds use the spring to get their drinking water.
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