November 29, 2015
Sunday AM

Dear Editor,

The other day a old logger stopped me and said, "Can't you guys do any thing to stop what's going on with the Big Thorne Timber Sale? You should see what they are doing to the Island, 30 log trucks a day dumping logs, all for export, every day! Some of us still have to live here and there is nothing left. The USFS, supervisor, Forrest Cole, ought to go to jail for this, it's criminal what they have done to this place."

My response was, WE tried, and lost every step of the way, with the appeal process, the court judge and injunction. Now there is nothing more to be done except witness the greed, the stupidity and the destruction of the USFS round log export machine.

The old logger shook his head in disbelief, and reiterated, " I'm not against logging, I made my living off it for years, but this is wrong what they are doing to this place. Forest Cole should be put in jail for this.''

By the pain and hurt in his face, I could see he meant his words. The irony is that instead of jail, Forrest Cole is off to a big fat retirement. The Big Thorne Sale is the capstone to his long career of timber-beast mentality, and should be the last hurray to the old way of wood-fiber exploitation in the Tongass National Forest.

Now that we have visible every day effects of global warming and climate change, produced by our oil based culture, the old methods of cut and run will no longer serve. Now we have changing and more severe weather, warming oceans, droughts that threaten our civilization, fires in the west that never seem to end, and every new year is the warmest, hottest year on the world wide record.

You would think, that with all the overwhelming facts and evidence, the yo-yos at the USFS would change course and accept a new path of forest protections, but no, it's still clearcut like there is no tomorrow. All these facts show that Forrest Cole's day was over a long time ago.

Joseph Sebastian
Kupreanof, Alaska

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