More Tree Cutting to be Concerned About, Maybe

If you're pissed off to the point of printing tee shirts over the deforestation of Pioneer Square yesterday you should fasten your restraints before you read this News Tribune article about logging along the west edge of Mt. Rainier National Park. Hancock Forest Management (ah, the names) is set to harvest 85 acres of second-growth wood around the Mowich River.

Logging near the park isn't necessarily illegal or bad or in violation of anything as far as is known and the article states that Park Management (Rainier's, not ours) has yet to look into Hancock's application, but the fact that Park Superintendent Dave Uberuaga has called notice to this particular application probably means he expects to find something that will piss him off.

From the article:

In a letter to regulators at the state Department of Natural Resources, Uberuaga asked state officials to minimize the potential for landslides, which could kill fish in the river.

While park officials are notified of hundreds of logging applications every year, it’s rare for Uberuaga to register misgivings this way. His staff believes he’s only done it once before in his 31/2-year tenure as park superintendent, in a situation involving marbled murrelets.

State officials said the logging permit fulfills obligations to protect fish and wildlife through buffers and other harvest restrictions, and doesn’t pose undue risk of harm to the landscape.

State officials have already given Hancock the permits they need to build logging roads and continue with the cutting of trees.