The Obama administration has approved the sale of timber from the Tongass National Forest in Alaska
.The 17-million acre forest is the largest stand of continuous temperate rain forest in the U.S. and contains a lot of old-growth trees. It's basically a snapshot of what the world looked like before we rolled heavy onto the scene.
The U.S. Forest Service gave the green light for the sale after approval from Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack who stated in May that he would be the final gatekeeper on all decisions to sell timber from roadless ares of the national forests.
This first sale will come after seven miles of roads are built for the 381-acre clear-cut. This makes Hulk mad. Vilsack said that the main reason he approved the sale was to provide jobs to the area. Here's a radical idea -- those loggers should get new jobs not involving cutting down old-growth trees.
Jobs should not trump mountains, nor should they trump the last great stand of old-growth temperate rain forest left in this great nation of ours. Instead of spending the millions of dollars the federal government intends to pour into road construction to clear cut the area, how about giving the loggers job buyouts so they can find a new career with some scratch in their pockets?
How do you like that Bruce Banner flourish?!! ("Green is a good color nowadays, because it represents nature. Hulk was the first environmentalist!")
The video's from the National Resource Defense Council's BioGems environmental PAC.
And wait! You can't get it better than this!
Check this out: In 2008, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin endorsed the Bush administration's plan to open the Tongass to timber and logging interests, "Swaths of Tongass Opening for Logging: New Rules Would Let Industry Into 3.4 Million Acres":
The Bush administration on Friday released a revised management plan for the southeast Alaska forest, the largest in the country at nearly 17 million acres. The plan would leave about 3.4 million acres open to logging and other development, including about 2.4 million acres that are now remote and roadless. About 663,000 acres are in areas considered most valuable for timber production ...A previous policy statement from the Governor's office is here: "State of Alaska Comments on Tongass Land and Resource Managment Plan Amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (April 27, 2007).
"This is a tremendous step toward having a sustainable, integrated timber industry," Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said. "We remain committed to responsible development that protects the diversity and health of the forest's wildlife while sustaining jobs and subsistence for residents of Southeast Alaska."
The Obama administration's coming out early and strong for election 2012, trying to cut Governor Palin off at the knees on environmental policy. I guess the Governor's WaPo op-ed this week hit the administration hard.
And of course, Obama's willing to throw another hard-left constituency under the bus to get right on natural resources policy. So now, in addition to the radical gay lobby, we now have enviro-extremists pissed at the administration!
Cool!
No political party can win without its most motivated activists. Further divisions in the leftist coalition will push more moderates over to the GOP in upcoming elections. Polls are already showing a deepening decline in the president's approval ratings: See, "Obama's Approval Drops 9 Points in a Month," and "Obama Approval Continues Decline."
See also, John Aravosis, "Gay Groups Decry Obama Defense of DOMA."
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UPDATE: Linked at Riehl World View, "The Left: Cracks In The Coalition?," and Sundries Shack, "Oh, It’s Just a Few Trees, Right Greenpeace?"
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