Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, April 13, 1991                   TAG: 9104160441
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PRIVATE FOREST LAND IS BETTER-MANAGED

Mr. Loesel says that much more timber is being grown on private land than is being harvested. What Mr. Loesel chooses to ignore is that private land is under better management. Most private landowners can do a much better job of managing land than a bureaucracy.

He states, "The George Washington [National Forest] contains nearly twice as much low-productive land as do private forest lands." This is not true. Nearly all the mountain forest land west of the Blue Ridge Mountains has the same general site conditions. Private landowners utilize their timber. The Forest Service, with all the numerous rules placed upon it by both laws and policies, does not.

The Citizens Task Force on National Forest Management knows full well that almost one-third of the annual timber growth in the George Washington and Jefferson national forests is being lost through insects, disease and natural mortality.

If Mr. Loesel and his group want to halt below-cost timber sales, he should advocate that the Forest Service increase its timber cutting and reduce its staffing so that the revenue will more than cover the cost of the sale. This is a simple solution that will put the forest in better growing condition and at the same time provide much needed employment in western Virginia.

A stagnated forest is a terrible waste of a valuable renewable natural resource. It makes one wonder about the forestry training or qualifications of the Citizens Task Force on National Forest Management. BRIAN D. GINGERICH COVINGTON