The Giving (and giving and giving) Tree

by Andrea Helm

The Free Press

Today, boys and girls, we will study the ideas contained in pamphlets, poster, videos - one of which was narrated by former Gov. and Sen. Dan Evans - and other learning materials distributed to 18 Washington schools by the WFPA, an organization comprised of the region's most active private-land timber and paper companies.

Did you know that the reason tree cutters say they cut down many trees all at once is that the area's "naturally dominant tree species," the Douglas fir, is "shade intolerant"? So timber industrialists have to cut down the big trees to make light for the little ones? Well, according to Project Learning Tree, it's true.

Another good reason for clearcutting is because it is a "more efficient and economical way to harvest trees" in the wetter western Washington climate where "trees grow more closely together, making it much more difficult to take individual trees out of a stand."

And did you know that this country's demand for fiber is projected to increase, not decrease? That means that we can all forget about recycling, 'cause there's gonna be plenty of trees for everyone!

That's right, boys and girls, Project Learning Tree is very proud of the job it's done educating the state's youngsters about forestry issues. In fact, they've done such a good job, they can now turn their attention to "burgeoning regulations," according to the WFPA's 1993 annual report.

"We must all consider ourselves messengers," writes WFPA President Steven G. Berntsen, and "send a stronger message about ... the timber supply as they apply to the public good."

Executive Director William C. Jacobs wrote that although the environmental education program was a smashing success, "Things took a bad turn somewhere between [President Clinton's] apparent good intentions and the plan put together by his administration. The extremely low levels of harvest proposed and other restrictions were a crushing disappointment to those of us looking toward a real solution."

Despite this, however, Jacobs remains buoyant. "There was good news late in September [1993] when Thurston County Superior Court validated the 500-acre rule for spotted owl protection, developed by the state Forest Practices Board after a thoughtful and public process. WFPA was forced to intervene in a lawsuit when the state Department of Wildlife refused to accept the new rule and sued the new Department of Natural Resources. The courtroom is the last place to develop public policy. But it was a significant victory. We won one!"

In September 1993, more than 3,000 students and their families toured private timber lands owned by Weyerhaeuser and learned about "today's careful harvest practices."

These days, Project Learning Tree is shooting up like a weed and the state's Environmental Education Association of Washington - of which the WFPA is a member - has received $250,000 from the state to "implement interdisciplinary, community-based environmental education" in 18 area schools. Much of the information that will be presented with the quarter-of-a-million-dollar grant will come from programs like Project Learning Tree.

Not one to rest on its educational laurels, the next step for WFPA is to have its "Forest Taxation Committee begin an educational effort inside the industry to explain the inequities in the current forest tax system" because "trees, like an agricultural crop, should not be taxed."

This is very important, boys and girls, because the forest products industry is the second largest in the state, whose employees earn approximately $2 billion a year. The industry purchases at least $5 billion in goods and services per year!

WFPA's Public Education Program has a budget larger than WFPA's operating budget.

OK, boys and girls, get out your pencils and paper because we're going to have a short quiz.

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Contents on this page were published in the April/May, 1994 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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Copyright © 1994 WFP Collective, Inc.