Independent Guestatorial: Isolation and devastation

If you hunt, fish, or swim, you may want to read this. The sweet smell of money drives good people to ignore friends and neighbors, pretending no one will get hurt. The simple idea we are all connected is forgotten when making easy money.

Timber sales and the special interests of Nature Conservancy, American Bird Conservancy, and National Wild Turkey Federation backing the Butler Hollow project are the reasons to sell timber, pretending to restore arid, bare, hot glades. With extreme weather on the horizon, deforestation and lethal wood smoke for decades are unacceptable. USFS does not have funds to get it done.

Butler Hollow plan will devastate Arkansas

The Environmental Assessment says: “Project area lands are drained by tributaries of the White River, including Butler Creek, Roaring River, Cedar Creek, and several other small and unnamed streams that are part of the Beaver Reservoir Watershed, including Beaver Lake, upstream in Arkansas, and Table Rock Lake, downstream in Missouri.” No one in Arkansas was notified. The Little Rock District, US Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region, the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission, Eureka Springs, Beaver and Holiday Island, the Carroll County Quorum Court, nor any Arkansas state agency were consulted on the negative impacts of flash floods, water quality or air quality from the project.

Previous floods along Butler Creek have created devastation near Beaver and Holiday Island. The frequency and severity of flashfloods would get worse. USFS knows what they are doing and they don’t care.

District Ranger Joe Koloski ignored public health concerns to proceed with Phase I of the 18,000-acre project, known as Alternative 4, starting with the Chute Ridge burn unit and the northeast corner of Pine Hollow burn unit, on 3,600 acres. Koloski is a smart man paid to destroy the Hollow, someone without ties to the community, hand-picked to get it done.

How do we protect our families?

We have less than 20 days to call Bill Nightingale, the Mark Twain National Forest Supervisor (573) 364-4621. Please send objections by July 6: objections-eastern-region@fs.fed.us Re: Butler Hollow Project 43537.

Nightingale is an experienced, friendly Ranger who speaks a different language. When I called, he seemed to agree with the need to protect Butler Creek from erosion, flash floods, and the Hollow from arson, illegal logging, deforestation and secure the forest. But at the end of the call, Bill said, “If you think we are not going to manage the Hollow you will be disappointed.” I was speechless.

           USFS uses English words with a different meaning. Sustainable projects, in my world, are good for the planet, good for the people, and generate profits without subsidies. USFS defines sustainable forests: as take whatever you like, but don’t be a pig; leave some for others. Managing the forest means prescribed burns for decades (health of the forest), commercial sales of forest products (trees) and landscaping to remove cedar trees (invasive species). Forest soil as a carbon sink and precious water source, the hidden treasure of the forest, is invisible, ignored by USFS.

I don’t understand forests, but I know one tree

Tex and Molly, two awesome dogs who teach me the wonders of nature, live outdoors sheltered by a cedar tree. The shade beneath the tree creates a unique habitat, my favorite place to relax. What is your favorite tree?

Arkansas’ fluff mill will devastate Louisiana

“Chairman Li is an extraordinary businessman and a tough negotiator,” said Gov. Hutchinson. No, Li is a magician: he got 16 million gallons of water from the Ouachita River and a sewer for 11 million gallons of wastewater per day for free, and no one noticed. Ouachita contamination from a massive Sun Paper Kraft mill, cumulative to the Koch mill downstream. Arkansas does not care for Louisiana’s public health. Just like Missouri!

Caring for our common home

Drinking water and forests are invaluable. Forest carbon offsets, setting a price for carbon, and paying the social cost of carbon are ethical imperatives for a planet in peril.

Dr. Luis Contreras