Environmentalists Ruined Timber Industry
Ever stop to think what motivated so many folks to migrate to the Northwest and decide to make a go of it here? Logging!
It was logging during the bygone era that attracted a host of job seekers from all parts of our nation as there were “Help Wanted’ signs everywhere and unlimited job opportunities. It began before what the 19th century referred to as the westward movement.
During this time, most transportation of goods, logs and lumber, even traveling, was done by ships. Railroad workers known as “gandy dancers” became a priority to get more rails down to bring more families out west and also to get valuable logs to mills and other destinations hungry for lumber products.
The logging industry, in its early stages, furnished ties for the railroad. In turn, the railroads expanded their network of railroad routes, creating a vital link in bringing much needed commodities such as home furnishings and other necessities from the east.
As a result, the seafood industry, farming and construction projects picked up considerably, and small settlements mushroomed into communities, then into small towns and cities throughout the Northwest up & down the Pacific Northwest corridor.
Loggers, known as “brush tramps,” lumberjacks and other things, together with plenty of sweat, broken bones and a few unfortunate accidents, became the backbone and frontrunner of all Northwest occupations.
Communities such as Everett, Shelton, Aberdeen, Hoquiam and Longview became major logging and export locations in Washington state shortly after the turn of the century. In Oregon, Tillamook and Coos Bay became major logging and export centers.
Good heads in the logging industry such as logging barons R.A. Long and Frederick Weyerhaeuser spearheaded lumber and logging production here in the Northwest to the highest level the world has ever witnessed.
They became one of the major sources of income for lumber mill workers and loggers. As a result, better living conditions prevailed throughout the northwest until the 1990s, when environmentalist boneheads entered the picture, attempting to undermine the logging industry with their lies, unfounded propaganda and liberal destructiveness regarding that spotted owl hoax, promoted by the Clinton administration.
Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. came up with a revised timber harvesting plan to satisfy environmentalist critics titled “Sustained High Yield Timber Harvesting.” However, a liberal San Francisco District Court of Appeals judge turned it down.
That court decision was the beginning of the end of our former timber barons’ ambitious logging intentions they had envisioned.
Because of newer devastating government-imposed environmental sanctions and stricter restrictions on logging, Weyerhaeuser Timber Co. the largest timber company in the world, had its operations seriously curtailed, causing a widespread economic chaos throughout the Northwest from which we have never recovered.
Long-Bell Lumber Co., the second-largest timber company in the world, decided to call it quits earlier and sold out to International Paper Co. Why vote Democratic?
Art Reynolds
Chehalis
Elderly Woman’s Letter Was Inspiring
I just had to respond to the wonderfully inspiring letter from Harriett Rounsley, in her 90s, who let us know how things should and could be in this country.
I and my husband of 50 eventful years wholeheartedly agree with everything she said, and in my opinion at least some part of her opinions could be used as a teaching tool in our elementary schools these days.
She is so lucky to be able to let us know these things so eloquently, and we appreciate it even more since our mother is the same age and cannot take care of her herself, in a nursing home, blind and not aware of who her family is most days.
It’s hard to try to visit with her on the rare occasions when we are able to ourselves.
As the old saying goes, “Life goes on” for us all. Whatever the results of the power games the politicians play, we must try to deal with them, for sure.
Congratulations to you, nice lady, and thank you to your hubby for his service to our country.
Linda Comer
Onalaska
Where’s the Outrage?
Where is the outrage about the brutal assassination of two police officers by — hold your breath — a white supremacist, Confederate flag waving — ah, “patriot”? I remember non-stop scrolls, opinions and editorials castigating Black Lives Matters without even a victim to point to, and now silence?
Another mark of shame for us to hang on our collective ignorance of the real bullies on the body politic.
Rick Straw
Chehalis
