Tuesday, the Austin Herald joined the Mankato Free Press in hoping Steve Drazkowski might prune his ambitions from turning black walnut tree in two state parks into gun stocks and table tops.
In Save the trees, the editors write:
One of the wackier ideas bouncing around the Capitol this year calls for boosting state revenues by logging high-value trees out of state parks —specifically black walnut trees in southeastern Minnesota’s Whitewater and Frontenac parks. The drop those trees would put back into the state’s empty budget bucket hardly seems worth the damage it would cause.
The bill, actually an amendment to the larger environment finance bill, is supposed to get a House vote this week. If it passes there, and makes it through the conference committee process, it would require the DNR to sell off commercially valuable timber. Although the bill’s author has been quoted as saying that the measure would affect 1 percent of state park trees, we doubt it would stop there. If majestic, signature trees like the Whitewater and Frontenac black walnuts can be harvested, wouldn’t the next step be to cut the last old growth red pine in Itasca State Park? And couldn’t almost all parks’ trees be harvested for pulp paper making operations? Indeed, if commercial value is the only standard to be applied, the parks themselves could be sold — they occupy some beautiful land which developers would no doubt love to get their hands on.
Starting down the path of commercially logging state parks — which are meant to be held in perpetuity for all the state’s people — would lead nowhere good, not least because it is a decision that can never be reversed. Once a tree is cut, it’s gone forever. Destruction is easy, but seldom wise. In this case, it is definitely the wrong course.
Apparently, even Republicans in the House saw the post-moronic nature of the notion and trimmed it from the bill. The Star Tribune reports:
Under pressure from all sides, the House did strip out a controversial proposal to allow commercial loggers to cut black walnut trees in two southeastern state parks.
Rep. Steve Drazkowski, R-Mazeppa, who proposed the measure, said logging could recoup enough money from the trees to subsidize park operations. But critics argued it would destroy cherished state wilderness. The proposal could be resurrected in coming weeks, however.
Lovely.
Update: for a more serious discussion of Drazkowski's walnuttery, see the PB's Political Party post Lawmakers reject proposal allowing logging in Whitewater, Frontenac.
Related posts: Only God can make a tree, but stupid ideas are left for The Draz to introduce
Mankato and Faribault papers lament GOP "chainsaw approach and reckless lumberjacking"
Photo: You're safe for now, Mr. Squirrel.
MPR yesterday afternoon played a section of Draz' bizarre toddler-ish speech wherein he essentially ranted against the color green; anything with the word "green" in it was automatically assumed to be evil in Draz' view, especially if it was meant to help the evil black and brown people city dwellers of Minneapolis.
They followed up with R.T. Rybak's patiently explaining that a) Minneapolis gives nearly $400 million to the state than it gets, and b) the green roof Draz had his temper tantrum against are absorbing rainwater that would otherwise run off into Minneapolis' storm drains (pavement not being known for its liquid-absorption properties) and add a few million gallons to the already-swollen Mississippi.
You'd think that someone who is often quick to express concern about flooding when it affects his constituents (http://www.draz.com/2010/10/2010-flood-6th-update/) might spare a little compassion for those downstream of his congressional district. Or does he only care about you if you can vote for him?
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Mar 30, 2011 at 10:17 AM