A rescent IR poll showed the public favors thinning our forests to slow the pine beetle epidemic. It might be time for Gov. Schweitzer to include this in his “restoration economy.” The only other option is the “let it burn” policy of the far left. Without logging we’ll end up with a massive tangle of deadfall not suitable for man nor beast that contributes to global warming either through massive fires or the slow rot and decay of these dead trees. Thinning will produce jobs, tax revenue and a healthier forest. The only thing it would hurt is the egoes of the envirochondriacs who have controlled forest policy for the last 25 years. Conditions have changed drastically and now is the time to do something different. A drive over McDonald Pass illustrates how logging and thinning have slowed this epidemic. It looks to me that we’ll lose all of our lodgepole pine within 2 to 3 years and the ponderosa pine within 5 years.

It’s time for Sens. Baucus and Tester and Rep. Rehberg and Gov. Schweitzer to get together and tell the public what they will or will not do. If you feel the same way please let them know or “let it burn.”