Yet another terrible forest-related article from the AP that fuels disagreements without bringing much to bear in the way of facts. 

If the Oregon timber industry went into "free fall" in the 1990s, then how is Lane County still the biggest sawlog producing county in the biggest sawlog producing state in the US, in most statistical periods? It's shoddy reporting that parrots corporate PR lines as if they are simple fact. 

And the "free fall" concept is a cold cover up for massive tax breaks given to big timber that helped starve county coffers, and for massive mechanization, automation, and centralization that wiped out timber jobs, both in the woods and the mills, and continues to pound down our rural roadways.

On the fire front, reporting that fails to distinguish between fire management in dry eat-side forests, and moist west-side forests, is bound to miss the mark. Professor Jerry Franklin was much more frank and accurate on the OPB Think Out Loud show yesterday. 

1/2