I Told You So

I wrote this letter nearly 30 years ago and it was published in the Kalispell Daily Inter Lake newspaper – please read it.

“I just finished reading in the Daily Inter Lake where farmers who lost 40 percent of their crops are eligible for federal disaster funds. What I would like to know is, when will we loggers be paid for the loss of our crops? I am talking about the millions of board feet of blowdown left to rot in the woods; the millions of board feet of dead and dying, bug-killed timber; and last, but not least, billions of board feet of over-mature timber standing, just going to hell.

Or we can just wait for a wildfire and watch it all go up in smoke. That way we won’t have to travel clear to Yellowstone Park to enjoy the beauty of black snags and the fragrant odor of dead elk starved to death from lack of vegetation caused by the fire. We will have it all right here in our own back yard.”

I hate to say I told you so but I have. We have had plenty of time to fireproof our timbered lands – but the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Friends of the Wild Swan, etc., etc. and some idiot judges would not allow it.

Why don’t you take a look at your backyard and see if I didn’t hit the nail right on the head.

Burn, baby burn.