My Idaho at 120 BPM

Being Blue in a Red State

The Spotted Owl

I make a living as a designer and builder of custom furniture. Our products are created from trees. You might think that this would put me in the conservative camp that believes that all of our natural resources should be available to support industry and provide jobs. In an earlier time I may have supported this idea, but times change and it is easy to see that natural resources are being exploited. Without regulations these resources will eventually run out.

Years ago I had a lumber supplier show up to my business with a toy Spotted Owl in a jar. He told me ‘this is how we preserve the Spotted Owl’. The environmentalist had been using the endangered species status as a legal strategy to not only protect the Spotted owl but the bigger picture of the last remaining old growth forests of the Northwest. The representative just assumed that all woodworkers and cabinet makers would stand up against the ‘liberal’ ‘tree huggers’ that wanted to protect these resources. Well he was wrong. I found his Spotted owl in a jar to be offensive and extremely short sighted. Fortunately the environmentalist have succeeded in their plight and today we still have the Spotted Owl and small pieces of old growth forests left to experience, study and preserve for future generations to enjoy.

Over the last 30 plus years I have seen huge improvements in the way timber is managed and mills have become more efficient. I have made available to my customers the logging practices of all of my suppliers and I am proud to be involved in an industry that incorporates the idea of well managed renewable resources all the while leaving a few natural lands untouched by man. The protection of natural resources is a progressive idea implemented by ‘liberals’ with vision, willing to sacrifice immediate selfish, personal gains for the benefit of future generations and a healthier planet.

The current administration embraces a ‘short sighted’ approach with its reduction of environmental regulations, renewed focus on fossil fuels and the reneging of federally protected lands in the name of ‘profit’ at a huge cost to the environment. Thankfully this is an educated country and this moment in time will be brief.