To the editor:
A group of friends met for lunch recently, and a discussion about the Bean Blossom Massacre was first on the list. Two of our friends drove past it on their way to town, and like everyone who sees this cut, they were mortified. The bungling behind this action is reprehensible, but to add insult to injury, we discussed a guest column piece in the Brown County Democrat that was written by DNR supporter and Nature Conservancy manager, Dan Shaver.
In an obvious preemptive strike, Mr. Shaver explained that this bungled clear-cut is actually good for the forest. This is the standard line that we are often fed by the Division of Forestry. While there is a solid argument for some selective logging, unfortunately for them, it doesn’t take a degree in forestry to see that this, and the ever-increasing number of clear-cuts across the county are an abomination against nature.
Clear-cutting with heavy machinery does not replicate a natural disturbance.
By the rosy picture he painted, you would imagine that a year from now there will be a hillside of frolicking woodcocks and whippoorwills amidst a thriving baby forest reaching for the sun. Credit where credit is due, he did give some lip service to the need for erosion mitigation, but he didn’t mention that it should have happened before we had a 5-inch rain event immediately following the cut.
Now that Mr. Shaver is on the record, let’s remember his words and see for ourselves what this area looks like this time next year.
From the wilds of Possum Trot,
Dave Seastrom, Possum Trot Road
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