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記者 馬克馬修 報導Writers on the Range 西元2000六月三十日
美國林務局官員指出，對柯林頓總統率先提出國有森林內禁止道路開發的議案後，『無路之路』於上週引發全美國的關注。
這項議案預估將影響4,300萬畝地，包括在蒙大拿州的580萬畝。負責單位正如火如荼的舉辦300場公聽會。
蒙大拿州密蘇拉地區的居民還意外的看到一場小插曲。大約2,000位反對者組成的遊行隊伍駕著伐木的卡車和公車駛進小鎮中。參與集會的包括伐木工人，工廠的工人，以及在林中駕駛工具車的駕駛。這些林業相關工作人員擔心這項禁令會使他們失業。休旅車隊的狂熱者則希望可以有更多的道路供他們行駛。
我可以諒解工人們的考量，但是我不懂這些駕車族的邏輯。如果在野地開闢了道路，大自然就失去了原有的神秘性，那和一般有道路貫穿的森林就沒有什麼不同了，不是嗎？如果這群駕車族還不滿意已有的38萬英哩林道，他們將是永遠也無法滿足的一群人。
伐木工人就有比較合理的考量。因為在1988年，蒙大拿州西部關閉了14座工廠，導致1,388人失業。這大規模的裁員是因為林務局突然削減了木材的產量。工廠的負責人將所有的過錯都歸給聯邦政府。在密蘇拉的集會中，反對者將書面的意見放進一具假的棺木中，棺木上刻印著：R.I.P 柯林頓 - 高爾的無路主張。
工業界的負責人指出，蒙大拿西部和北愛達荷州的四座國立森林中已經種植的伐木銷售，可能會因為這項道路的禁建令而受阻。但是他們沒有提到，林務局依然准許他們在西元2005年前，只要在不開闢道路的前提下，在無路的林區砍伐7,500萬尺寬的木材
這裡還有一些工業界的人士不願意提到的事實：
- 根據林務局官員指出，在1970到1980年代，伐木企業過量砍伐私人林地，導致水土流失以及洪水氾濫，因而漁獲量驟減和水品質的受損。對此林務機構做出的回應是取消在鄰近公有地的伐木銷售。
- 根據商務貿易單位指出，縱使蒙大拿的木材產量從1979年到1986年一直持續增長，但在木製相關工業的工廠的雇員量卻短少了2,400個工作機會。
- 根據聯邦會計單位的報告指出，即使聯邦的伐木產量在未來50年持續增長百分之五十五，工廠的雇員仍會因為機械化而縮減百分之二十七。
但是為什麼要相信對手提出的報告呢？誰說的話才是可信的呢？密蘇拉附近一家擁有244雇員的林業工廠的負責人馬克蘇恩警告說，最近可能還會繼續裁員和關閉工廠。原因就是對伐木的限制嗎？根本不是這麼一回事。問題的主因是聯邦的商業發展保護政策，這樣政策提高了利率，還限制商場的興建與開發。蘇恩告訴記者，每個工廠都會因此而受影響。
從1996年起，路易西安那太平洋公司就關閉了兩個三夾板生產工廠，三十五個木材工廠，和四個合成木板生產廠。蘇恩說這都是現代化的結果，這對工廠的營運是最好的。
蒙大拿鄉村的居民想保有他們高收入的工作是可以理解的。他們的許多鄰居都已經飽嚐了同時兼任兩三份工作來維持家計的壓力。蒙大拿的居民在這方面的辛勤居全國之冠。許多蒙大拿的居民在經濟艱難的時期都堅持到底，放棄享受自然山水，提昇日常精神生活品質與休閒的機會。他們也很喜愛伐木工人垂涎的樹木。
不論聯邦政府砍了多少樹，技術和經濟會繼續蠶食林業工廠的工作機會。但是運輸原始林材到工廠的工人則會有更多的工作機會。
與其攻擊政府官員對林業產量的限制，這群林業工人應該遊說林業局僱請他們來作森林的復育工作。聯邦會計單位指出，生長茂盛的森林底層已經引起了中西部3,900萬畝森林大火的危機。森林底層的疏林工作不僅可以減少火災的機率，也會使剩餘的樹木長得更健壯。
橫跨蒙大拿西部和北愛達荷州，在20至30年前被全伐的50萬畝林地，絕對需要疏伐。在這些地區，用電動鋸子的工人可以保留直徑10至12呎的良材，把其餘到達他們膝高的小樹都砍掉。這是個很悶熱而且骯髒的工作，不像用租重的工作堆疊木材那麼浪漫，但卻是比較長期穩定的收入。
此外，對於伐木工人而言，還有另一項附帶利益 - 他們將會得到大眾的愛戴與支持。
馬克馬休目前居住在密蘇拉，蒙那拿州。他是Writers on the Range雜誌的長期投稿者。Writers on the Range是High Country新聞報的另一項服務。
全文與圖片詳見: http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho063000.stm
版權歸屬 環境信託基金會（ 許嘉玲 譯， 鄭先祐審校）
中英對照全文：http://news.ngo.org.tw/issue/ecoeco/
issue-ecoeco00072701.htm |
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by Mark Matthews, Writers on the Range 06.30.00
The "roadless" road show swept the nation last week as U.S. Forest Service officials collected public comment on President Clinton's initiative to prohibit road building in national forests where no roads now exist.
The policy would affect 43 million acres across the country, including about 5.8 million acres in Montana. The agency is hosting 300 public hearings.
Residents of Missoula, Mont., got a special sideshow. About 2,000 opponents from across western Montana rolled into town on a convoy of logging trucks and buses. Rally attendees included loggers, mill workers, and off-road-vehicle riders. The timber workers are afraid they'll lose jobs because of the ban. ORV enthusiasts want more roads to ride.
I can sympathize with the loggers and mill workers, but I don't understand the logic of the motorheads. If you build a road into a wild area, it loses its mystique and becomes just like any other roaded forest. If motorheads aren't happy with the 380,000 miles of forest roads that already exist, they never will be.
Loggers have more legitimate concerns. Since 1988, 14 mills in western Montana have closed, putting 1,388 people out of work. Since those layoffs occurred when the Forest Service drastically cut timber harvesting, industry spokespeople blame the federal government. At the rally in Missoula, opponents stuffed written comments into a mock coffin stenciled with the words: R.I.P. Clinton-Gore Roadless Initiative.
Industry spokespeople pointed out that four national forests in western Montana and northern Idaho would lose already-planned timber sales to the road-building ban. But they didn't mention that the Forest Service would still allow them to cut 75 million board feet of timber in roadless areas by 2005 -- without building new roads.
Here are some other facts that industry mouthpieces don't mention:
- For much of the 1970s and 1980s, timber corporations overcut their private lands, causing erosion and potential flood problems that harm fisheries and defile water quality, according to Forest Service officials. In response, the agency canceled timber sales on adjoining public properties.
- While Montana's wood products output increased from 1979 to 1986, employment in the wood products industries declined by 2,400 jobs, according to the Department of Commerce.
- Even if federal timber harvests were to increase by 55 percent in the next 50 years, industry employment still would drop by about 27 percent because of mechanization. That's according to a 1990 General Accounting Office report.
But why believe reports generated by the enemy? What's the word from the horse's mouth? Mark Suwyn is chair and CEO of Louisiana Pacific, which employs 244 workers at a mill near Missoula. Suwyn recently warned there might be more layoffs and mill closures. The reason? The stranglehold on public timber? No way. The real nemesis is Federal Reserve Chair Alan Greenspan who set higher interest rates that have slowed the construction market. "Every mill could be affected," Suwyn told journalists.
Since 1996, Louisiana Pacific has sold or shut down two plywood plants, 35 lumber mills, and four particle board operations. "It's all about modernization and which mills are best suited," Suwyn said.
It's understandable that rural Montanans want to save their well-paying jobs. Many of their fellow residents already know the stress of holding down two or three jobs to make ends meet. Montana tops the nation in that category. Many stick out hard economic times to enjoy the mountains, creeks, and lakes that provide a daily spiritual uplift and unlimited recreational opportunities. They also like trees that loggers covet.
Technology and the economy will continue to nibble away at mill jobs no matter how many trees the federal government cuts. But loggers, who deliver the raw product to the factories, have a chance to increase their work opportunities.
Rather than berating public officials for limiting timber harvests, they should lobby the Forest Service to hire them to restore forest health. According to the General Accounting Office, lush undergrowth has created catastrophic fire danger on 39 million acres in the interior West. Thinning the undergrowth not only could curtail the fire danger, but also allow the remaining trees to grow healthier.
Across western Montana and northern Idaho, about 500,000 acres of land that was clear-cut 20 to 30 years ago desperately need thinning. In these areas, loggers with chainsaws would leave the best tree within a 10- to 12-foot diameter and cut every other tree that reaches above their kneecaps. It's hot, dirty work and not as romantic as toppling tall timber with heavy equipment, but it's a steady paycheck.
And there would be another benefit to loggers -- the wholehearted support of the public.
Mark Matthews lives in Missoula, Mont. He is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News.
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho063000.stm
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