When it comes to logging America’s forests, can environmentalists and the logging community actually see eye-to-eye? They do in the Colville National Forest located in northeast Washington.
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation maintains that actively managed forests not only enhance habitat wildlife and mitigate catastrophic wildfire but improve overall forest health.
“We really need a more cohesive strategy to deal with this so we can protect the communities. But at the same time, we need to protect the natural landscape,” Russ Vaagen, Vaagen Brothers Lumber vice president, told KREM-TV.
“I see us restoring by leaving the most resilient trees, and taking out the ones next to them that are going to burn up in a fire,” said Mike Peterson, Lands Council executive director. “So there is a good trade off of actually reducing the fuel load, but also making the whole forest stand more resilient.”
Originally aired by CBS affiliate KREM-TV in Spokane, Washington, on October 19, 2017, go here to view this compelling report in its entirety.