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Forester Spouts Specious Arguments & Sham Concern for Endangered Species

Unwittingly Reveals True Logging Agenda

“It’s difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”  ~~~ Upton Sinclair

• Several North American warbler species have shifted northward more than 65 miles. The Golden-winged Warbler’s range has moved nearly 100 miles north just in the past two decades.  ~~~ National Audubon Society

[Updates below]

Just a quick note in deference to a hot Saturday afternoon.

A friend just sent me an Op-Ed from the Morris Daily Record by a professional forester, the Policy Chair New Jersey Society of American Foresters – for our purposes, I’ll call the author  “Mr. Forester” (see:  Bill needed to improve forest management).

Mr. Forester’s  arguments are a mishmash of shockingly poor reasoning, half truth, spin, outright falsehoods, and over the top political silliness. [You can do the Cliff Notes version by reading the boxed quotes above – they are sufficient to destroy Mr. Forester’s arguments.]

The good news is that, in writing this Op-Ed, Mr. Forester unwittingly reveals his true agenda: to log the hardwood forests on thousands of acres of northern NJ State lands (see my final point below).

The author reveals a lack of understanding and credibility that ordinarily would simply be dismissed.

But, because the bill is on the Governor’s desk, and because there are misleading kernels of truth in Mr. Forester’s argument – a dangerous feature of all good propaganda – a response is in order.

Before we get to the substance, keep in mind the obvious fact that foresters know how to cut trees and they make their living by cutting trees and providing consulting services about how to cut tress. See Upton Sinclair’s sage wisdom in the box quote above for the implications of that.

The “forest harvest” bill would promote commercial logging on state lands and is designed to expand markets for the timber industry and professional forestry services.

So let’s get to the substance of the arguments our good forester makes in support of the commercial logging bill parading under the slogan “forest stewardship”.

1. Over the top political threat to Gov. Christie

Mr. Forester begins his Op-Ed with a foolish and blatantly political over the top implied threat to Gov. Christie.

He implies that the Gov. will pay some kind of political price if he does not sign the logging bill.

This is a foolish threat that destroys his credibility and that there is no chance of the bill’s supporters – many of whom are Christie supporters – actually delivering on:

Given Gov. Christie’s desire for a second term, he should consider something before he signs or vetoes the Healthy Forests Act (S1085/A2837): Does he want an endangered species to vanish from the state during his watch?

The threat is doubly foolish, because Gov. Christie has never expressed support for protection of endangered species.

Just the opposite – in fact, several of the Gov.’s policies are consistent with the bill:

• “Sustainable Parks Funding Strategy” whose primary goal is to increase revenues from public lands. The bill would do that by producing revenues from timber sales.
• “Privatization Policy“- The bill would promote privatization by: 1) opening up public lands and natural resources to private commercial exploitation, a means of “privatizing” public assets; and 2) encourage privatization of forest management decisions by vesting a private entity, the Forest Stewardship Council, with forest planning and oversight, in lieu of DEP regulation (yes we know that FSC is dead, as Christie will back his DEP Commissioner over his ideology).
• The Gov. has promoted deregulation and market based voluntary compliance by the private sector, not aggressive DEP enforcement. The bill shares that philosophy by adopting a market based consumer certification system and non-regulatory cooperative “stewardship” model, consistent with the Gov.’s pro-business /anti-government vision .
• The Gov. has promoted economic development as a priority over environmental protection. The bill embraces those priorities by seeking to attract and retain the timber industry in NJ; and by not erecting regulatory barriers or public review “red tape” hurdles to exploiting forest resources for economic gain.

Even if Mr. Forester’s warbler extinction threat were true (which it is not), does Mr. Forester really think Christie’s Gubernatorial or Presidential ambitions would suffer if the golden wing warbler were to become extinct?

Or that his “conservation group” allies would criticize the Governor? Give us a break, please.

2. False Claim: Lack of Logging to Create Habitat Will Cause Extinction of the Golden Wing warbler

Keep in mind that State forests are just a part of NJ’s forests and NJ’ overall landscape;  that the golden wing warbler is a migratory species; that logging is just one way to create early successional habitat (afforestation of farms and barren land is another); and that there are multiple factors influencing both NJ’s landscape and threats to the golden wing warbler.

Revealing absurd logic and positing a false causal relationship, Mr. Forester claims that if the bill is not signed by the governor the warbler will become extinct:

That species is the golden-winged warbler, which has dwindled to 25 breeding pairs in the state, mostly in the northwestern extremes. Why is this bird on the brink when the state owns 719,000 acres, largely for the benefit of recreation and wildlife? It is because New Jersey is not creating young forests that this and a large number of wildlife species need in order to survive.

Here’s where Mr. Forester’s kernel of truth (e.g. dwindling NJ population), backed by confused and specious reasoning (e.g. decline is exclusively caused by management of NJ state lands), lead to arguments that are dangerous.

Yes, in certain patches of State forests there are mature trees and interior forest habitat that does not support the warbler. We are try to preserve what little is left of those large contiguous forests, that protect water quality, provide recreation, and support many other species.

There is no need to and it is absurd to suggest that we must  log mature forests to create suitable early successional habitat.

There is plenty of suitable habitat for the golden wing warbler in NJ, on both state lands and privately owned lands.

We do not need to log state forests to create what already exists. I’ve written about that previously.

In addition, it is not solely the lack of suitable habitat in NJ that is the cause of the decline in golden wing warbler populations.

There are multiple reasons that the species is in decline –

[Update – a knowledgeable reader sent me this:  Executive Summary- Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) Status Assessment and Conservation Plan – with this note:

NJ is a TINY bit of their region. So they would justify decimating our forests for that and ignore the rest of the creatures in the forests.

Here’s a key factor that National Audubon Society identifies (something you will not here from NJ Audubon, who is supporting this legislation for many of the same reasons the foresters are): See: Global Warming and birds:

Global warming is the greatest threat to birds and other wildlife in human history. The rate of global warming is already impacting birds, their prey, and their habitat. Those impacts will become more severe over the coming decades, leading to the loss of one-quarter to one-third of all species on earth, including many bird species. […]

Is Global Warming Already Affecting Birds?

Scientists are already seeing alarming impacts of global warming on birds. More than 80% of plant and animal species studied have shown changes in the timing of migration or reproduction, shifts in habitat or migratory routes, or other changes associated with climate change. Some of the observed impacts on birds include:

• Several North American warbler species have shifted northward more than 65 miles. The Golden-winged Warbler’s range has moved nearly 100 miles north just in the past two decades.

3. Bizarre Claim: Decline in 33 Species A Result of Lack of State Forest Management

Mr. Forester makes another fact free and absurdly illogical claim:

While forestry had been practiced in state parks, forests, and wildlife management areas from their inception, this stewardship was virtually eliminated during the 1980s. Those young forests have matured to a point where early-successional species no longer utilize them. Thus, 33 species are now Species of Greatest Conservation Need purely due to lack of proper stewardship from state government.

In his zeal to blame State government and lame attempt to justify logging, Mr. Forester conflates multiple issues and multiple causal factors.He makes no distinction between state lands and private lands. He ignores all but one factor in a complex set of ecological, conservation and land use problems. And he revealingly reduces and equates “forest stewardship” – just as I predicted – to logging, thereby exposing that slogan as cover for logging.

He is referring to 33 “Species of Greatest Conservation Need” as listed in the DEP “Wildlife Action Plan” (WAP).

But, by blaming State government’s lack of state land stewardship soley for the decline and threats to those species, Mr. Forester is twisting and distorting that WAP beyond recognition.

First of all, Mr. Forster’s conclusions are at odd with the US Forest Service’s Highlands Report. Key findings on biodiversity are found on page 59:

Similarly,in contrast to Mr. Forester, the US Fish and Wildlife  Service found great diversity in NJ’s forests and landscape, that supports biodiversity, and prioritized preservation of large blocks on intact forest:

VIII. CONSERVATION RECOMMENDATIONS: It is critical to the resources of the Highlands that the network of open space within the Highlands be protected and expanded in order to maintain the unfragmented forest core from the glacial moraine north to the Hudson and across the Hudson to the Connecticut border with linkages on forested ridges to the Delaware River to the south. All publicly owned land that is not currently protected open space, such as the Picatinny Arsenal and various city-owned watershed lands in the Pequannock watershed, should be transferred to public ownership for management as preserve areas. Large privately owned parcels that are threatened by development, especially Sterling Forest, should be acquired and transferred to state or federal conservation agencies or protected through conservation easements or other means. In addition to acquisition efforts, there need to be state and local incentives to maintain open space, especially forested areas. Because many of the habitat values of the Highlands are based on its large tracts of unfragmented forests and wetlands, these large areas must be preserved intact. Protecting only the small and localized rare communities will not be sufficient.

Most obviously, state owned land is only a portion of NJ’s landscape.

Mr. Forester neglects the facts that species migrate and – like land ownership – state borders are largely irrelevant to the causal factors creating threats and driving species declines.

But even more important, those 33 species are in trouble for many reasons, most importantly the conversion of their habitat to development; made worse by pollution and global warming. Here is what the DEP WAP says:

1. Habitat Destruction
Habitat destruction is the greatest threat to New Jersey wildlife. It is the equivalent of actually “taking” or killing wildlife, since an organism denied its ability to feed and/or reproduce can no longer exist. New Jersey is moving to adopt endangered and threatened species rules to further protect endangered and threatened wildlife and their associated habitat. Identification, protection, and, where possible, acquisition of critical habitats for such wildlife are key components of the Plan. Another goal is to further integrate water quality regulations and aquatic habitat delineation into endangered and threatened wildlife protection.

To try to claim that these 33 species are in decline “purely due to lack of proper stewardship from state government” is flat out false (and remember that the Mr. Forester is using “stewardship” arguments to support a bill that is targeted on the “stewardship” of state lands).

That claim is not supported by evidence,  false, absurd, and based on bizarre reasoning.

4. Ethically Challenged Claim: Mischaracterization of Supporters of the Bill

Mr. Forester claims:

Conservation-minded legislators from both sides of the aisle passed this bill with the support of a remarkably broad coalition of environmental groups.

Virtually all the “environmental groups” that support this bill, like Mr. Forester, have financial conflicts of interest and seek to derive direct economic benefits from the bill.

Period.

5. Agenda Revealing Claim:  Failure to Understand Competing and Conflicting Missions

Mr. Forester clearly supports the DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife, but is frustrated by the DEP’s Division of Parks and Forestry.

He apparently fails to understand that there are obvious inherent conflicts between the missions of those two groups.

Mr. Forester goes beyond mere frustration, however, and presents – exactly as I predicted – dangerous recommendations to expand a pilot “stewardship” logging operation to our magnificent northern hardwood State forests:

While the DEP Division of Fish and Wildlife is making a valiant effort to create habitat for golden-winged warbler in and near Sparta Mountain Wildlife Management Area, should those projects not increase local populations, then the next logical area to focus on would be along the New York-New Jersey state line. This may include portions of High Point, Waywayanda, Ringwood, and Long Pond Ironworks state parks, and Abram S. Hewitt, Norvin Green, and Ramapo Mountain state forests.

So, as I previously wrote several times, the objectives of the bill are to expand commercial logging in state forests, particularly northern hardwood forests,  under the false pretext of protecting endangered species.

The Farm Bureau let that cat out of the bag in their June 10, 2013 testimony.

Now the Professional Foresters have confirmed the expansive logging objective.

We must not let that happen. Tell the Gov. to Veto the bill!

[Update – NJ Conservation Foundation understands all this:

One excellent clue as to where rare plants still exist today is in the late 1800’s topographic survey of New Jersey by C.C. Vermuele. His maps point us to New Jersey’s oldest forests. When we look at these forests, many still in existence today, we find undisturbed native soils where many ancient plant populations survive. A good example is Round Mountain, a Hunterdon County park. In the face of a proposal to log Round Mountain’s forest in 2010, close inspection by expert botanists showed the existence of many rare plant species. The logging proposal would have created a rush of sunlight, heat, droughty soil, invasive species and deer, all factors the rare plants could not tolerate. Fortunately, the proposal was withdrawn.

Today, the NJ Department of Environmental Protection plans to extensively log the Weldon Brook Wildlife Management Area in order to create and maintain early successional meadow habitat for the Golden-Winged Warbler, a now rare but once common bird in northern New Jersey. The Golden-Winged Warbler is virtually gone from this area, only found at high elevations.

Efforts to save the Golden-Winged Warbler habitat are important and necessary, but should not be done at the expense of other rare species. The New Jersey Natural Heritage Program, with help from botanists, ecologists, and environmental activists, has discovered many rare plant species not previously inventoried in Weldon Brook.