Negotiating with environmentalists over forest access issues and conservation of wildlife habitat has become a full-time job for the Forest Service and the timber industry and the various multiple access groups. It generally leads to resolution via the litigation route, since ordinary unpaid citizen environmentalists are no financial match for organized paid groups and corporate opponents.

A consulting firm was chosen by the Forest Service to be a buffer between them and the general public, by having them run the meetings being conducted for a Flathead National Forest Planning Revision Collaboration Workshop that began in September 2013.

As I serve on this Flathead National Forest Planning Collaboration Workshop, I am the only member who is working for free. The wildlife I chose to represent does not compensate me in any way.  Everyone else serving is being paid by some company or special interest group to be there. I encourage those of you who consider yourself an environmentalist to join in and engage in the dialogue, not sit on the sidelines and assume others will accomplish your goals for you in this special collaborative negotiating process.

I responded “firmly” to some non-collaborative introductory comments from members with my own strong comments in support of wildlife forest habitat. The 50 or so members of this committee have strong feelings, and collaboration will be difficult.

My public comments so far have already changed the agenda for subsequent meetings, as the Forest Service acknowledged their lack of consideration of wildlife and will now address that as a major issue, instead of totally ignoring it, per usual, as they were doing before I spoke out. My niche will be to represent the animals.

I am going public in the newspapers, expressing my own opinion on the subject, in the hope of inspiring others to then write their own opinions… pro and con. The topic needs to get a lot of press which will generate good dialogue among members of the general public.

The public “airing” about the plight of wildlife and their habitat, in the past, has not been enough to come to any practical resolution though. It has been 12 years of frustration/exasperation in the time I have lived here… with no end in sight. Often times the “Equal Access to Justice Act” had to be applied in litigation efforts. With both sides digging in their heels in their attempts at a “win-lose” solution, this will go on forever. Only a “win-win” solution will carry the day. It would greatly satisfy me to make a contribution to such a peaceful solution.

For example, I have never been against the timber industry being profitable and providing good paying jobs… only a defender of wildlife to survive in their natural, little remaining habitat.

The problems are numerous, as I see them:

v People have long memories back to the clear-cut timber episodes of the 1950s and 1980s.  There is no forgiveness in modern-day environmentalism of the old general timber industry for having done it.

v With “trust” and “betrayal of trust” issues being a powerful human emotion, second only to the “fear” emotion in all animals (“fight or flight”), neither side wants to risk a “give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” scenario.

v The protection of grizzly bear habitat, under the auspices of the Endangered Species Act, as the problem for accessing timber to harvest has come into play… further alienating the environmentalist crowd.

v Both sides represent the other side as evil…which is not the case. It is a matter of honorable people battling for their cause… but wanting to win the “contest.”

v There has to be a “test case” of creating a one-time memorandum of understanding between the warring factions of forest utilization in order to develop an aura of trust. It would have to specifically indicate that it would only be “one-time” and not be subject to becoming a precedent-setting agreement forevermore… and not subject to any judge’s own interpretation in a courtroom.

v Foresters and biologists see the forest differently. Foresters count board-feet of lumber. Biologists will consider the entire ecology of the forest, which includes all flora and fauna aspects and their interrelationship to each other.

v Some methodology of ongoing monitoring of timber harvesting practices, in order to establish trust, must be determined and agreeable to both sides. Beetle kill, small and large diameter trees, slash removal, fuel-reduction, fire suppression aspects, re-seeding, roads management, salvage work, grizzly bear habitat, grizzly bear mortality, grizzly-bear forest ecosystem movement linkages, et al, must all be taken into account.

v The cost of harvesting timber with oversight by biologists rather than foresters, as I suggested, should be ameliorated by transference of expiring U.S. farming subsidies over to the timber industry to make up for the profit shortfalls of deviating from normal forestry practices. What that cost differential is should be computed by MBA cost accountants.

v Special-interest multiple-access groups are only concerned with having fun with their motorized recreational vehicles, and have little or no regard for wildlife habitat and their survival. These vehicles offer the ecosystem various forms of pollution: Excessive noise (wildlife hears six times more acutely than humans); leaking gasoline; leaking oil; tailpipe exhaust emissions. Better quiet, non-polluting access methods for the benefit of wildlife would be: Hiking on foot; horseback riding; skiing and snowshoeing.

v Hunters and trappers do not see animals as living, breathing creatures, worthy of sharing the Earth with, but rather as a natural resource for them to kill as they see fit.

Take note: The Flathead National Forest has announced the beginning of a several year process to update its forest plan. An orientation meeting will kick off the collaborative process on Thursday, Dec. 5, from 4 to 8:30 p.m. at the Red Lion Inn in Kalispell. Those wishing to participate are being asked to register at https://www.eventbrite.com/event/4730387717 by Dec. 2.

Bill Baum is a resident of Martin City.