By JEAN FARRAR | rural Ontario
The Feb. 10 County Line article “DNR seeking public comment on Wildcat Mountain State Park interim forest plan” caught my attention in a “not so good” way. First, I did not realize that just like our State Forests, where timber is harvested regularly, the DNR also has forest management plans for State Parks! I did not realize timber could be harvested there under any circumstance!
The internet clearly states that “in order to preserve the natural beauty of State Parks it is against Wisconsin law to destroy, molest, deface, or REMOVE NATURAL GROWTH or archaeological features.” Common sense would then lead me to believe trees were included … Or is it okay only if the DNR is the one doing the removing instead of the park patrons?
Facts are the DNR’s “interim” plan (which currently addresses only the plantation pine at Wildcat Mountain) will eventually be superseded by a formal detailed “master plan” for the entire park, designed to promote “sustainable management of state-owned forest lands” that will provide economic, ecological and social benefits for years to come. This is a blanket policy which will apply to all state-owned lands currently not under a formal plan. Wildcat Mountain currently does not have a formal forest management plan — just an interim one — so far.
The problem is that the “master plan” will self-admittedly be composed of components of “The Western Coulee & Ridges Regional Master Plan” for forest management, which is based on the DNR’s Silviculture handbook. No problem, except the Silviculture handbook was designed to promote sustainable, statewide forest management objectives for economic benefit — (that means to make money!) — balanced with ecological and recreational interests. It was designed to sustainably promote forests that would be cut, thinned, cleared and managed. State Parks are to be preserved in their natural state. Natural state means no interference by people! Once the DNR sets a standard (or precedent), it’s hard to get changed and easy to apply across the board.
Is this the precedent by which we want Wildcat’s huge old-growth forests to be evaluated? How much money the trees are worth now vs. what they may or may not be worth if cut in the future? If or when the DNR ever decides the “economic value” outweighs the ecologic and recreational value? What price can be put on people experiencing unmanaged (un-thinned huge towering) trees? Of over 16 million forested acres in Wisconsin, only around 60,000 acres are designated as State Parks. Most of our state-owned forest lands are already being logged and managed by the DNR for profit. Control of our historical State Parks and forests could be next to slip away in this slow, calculated, and almost unnoticed manner. Voice your opinion to the DNR — not to save the pine stand today (that’s just trivial). We need to support NO future DNR plans which thin, harvest, sell, or otherwise remove any natural growth from any State Park in Wisconsin for any consideration of economic benefits.
Just my opinion. Sincerely, Jean Farrar.
