We live in an area that was highly
productive in logging and timber. There
is still production in some cities such as Riddle, but I don't think there are
as many employed in the entire logging/timber industry as there had been 45
years ago. That is when Myrtle Creek Saw
Mill closed from what I understand.
I did not understand why it had
closed down, or why the entire operation seems to have dwindled and why the
railroads have almost a deserted feel.
As we were visiting with a native Oregonian who had remembered generations
of her family living in Myrtle Creek though she now lives in Winston.
She had remembered a time when the
community thrived and when there had been more logging and timber related
jobs. I've actually met others who
remembered the thriving industry as well. Apparently it was the entire state of
Oregon that voted on how to save the spotted owls which were on the endangered list in 1969.
What I got out of her explanation
was that the city folk of Portland voted
to "save the trees and therefore save the spotted owls" No one had bothered to mention that when
trees are cut down, they are replaced. Fresh
young trees are planted and the loggers move to an area of older trees. After they are cut, new trees are
planted.
All they were told were trees were
being cut down leaving the spotted owls without homes and if the bill didn't
pass, the spotted owl would become extinct . . . . perhaps not in that exact
content . . . but that is how it was explained.
My understanding is that because the bill passed to save the owls, many
lumber companies were forced to shut down.
Now, that is really sad. But
perhaps if I hadn't been given all the facts, I would have voted differently
also.
Better for a logger to cut it down than have nature start a fire due to overgrowth and age.
