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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 30, 1995                   TAG: 9508300032
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: J.B. HILMON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LANDOWNERS ARE HARDLY ENDANGERED

LIKE SO many writings these days, Emmett Thompson's Aug. 23 commentary (``Protect endangered landowners'') on the Endangered Species Act tells only part of the story. He uses one example from North Carolina of a landowner with $12 million worth of saw timber being asked to defer cutting on one-eighth of his land.

With examples such as this, the current leadership in Congress is attempting to justify major changes in the act. It's another example of the ``new mythology'' illustrated by The Roanoke Times in the commentary on hostility toward prayer (``Where is the hostility toward prayer?'' by James W. Watkins) that ran below Thompson's commentary.

The effects of broad-scale removal of older pines and conversion to pulpwood growing or other uses during this century were devastating to the red cockaded woodpecker. The decline of the woodpecker was slowed and perhaps halted by the Endangered Species Act and enlightened forestry practices.

Much of the recovery has taken place on national forests and wildlife refuges, state forests and parks, and probably on some private lands. Many private landowners hold their lands for aesthetic and recreational purposes, even as they realize some timber benefits.

Public agencies generally haven't used punitive policies against landowners who purposefully or inadvertently caused adverse effects. Rather, they have used incentives and education to encourage public interests - be they wood production, soil conservation, improved water quality or wildlife habitat.

The rhetoric that private landowners are endangered is simplistic and politically tainted. It embodies the same tactics with which some politicians are attempting to discredit federal law-enforcement officials.

The Endangered Species Act may need some minor adjustments. It is hoped that they'll be made in a constructive and factual environment.

J.B. Hilmon of Abingdon is a retired forester.

by CNB