[at-l] Re[2]: [TA] TA and fires

[Bob C." <ellen@clinic.net (Bob C.)]

"... your foresters don't know fire and soil science."

 Virtually  all  the  foresters  in Maine at the time of the fire worked for the
 giant  paper  companies and other land-owning companies. The typical wood "lot"
 probably  averaged  750,000  acres. The only public lands were Baxter and a few
 scattered state parks, mostly along the coast.

 Any  forester who publicly asuggested a blowdown salvage and resulting fire had
 damaged the forest would have quickly become an unemployed forester.

 I'm  rather  amazed  at  the change since then. Public lands and lands owned by
 environmental  groups  have  increased  five  fold.  Independent,  professional
 foresters are a minor growth industry.

 Sadly, for the Maine economy, the remaining private forests tend to be severely
 degraded,  as  the  companies harvest the last of the forest in preparation for
 moving their operations elsewhere.

 As  I've mentioned in what some may think are my "extreme" postings, the bright
 side  of  this  picture is an opportunity to create significant buffers for the
 Appalachian Trail in Maine.

 Weary