But, you're not talking about a green problem as much as you are a past practices problem and government interference in business. The government went the value added route, which is what hurt your small businesses. I'm convinced they want to get rid of small businesses since its easier to control a few large ones than several small ones. This seems to happen in all governments, so its nothing new.
But, you talk about being forced into lower quality wood, since the higher quality wood has been locked up. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I have done work in an area where there was a high proportion of government owned wood and a good proportion of privately owned wood. The talk amoung the loggers was the same 20 years ago as today. All the good quality wood was on the government land, and they had it locked up.
That was true mainly due to the way that landowners used their land as an ATM, and the industry used mining techniques instead of management techniques in timber harvesting. The selective logging was just a technique to get the best and leave the rest. Its a practice that still goes on.
Meanwhile, the state has a lot of other products and issues to maintain. I don't see our state being controlled or even influenced by green organizations, let alone extreme greenies. They also aren't controlled by the whims of the industry. They maintain sustainable management practices that insure good quality wood, provide habitat for a wide range of wildlife, protect scenic values, provide areas for recreation. They also turn a profit. They routinely take out pulpwood from species that won't make good products down the line. That is almost non-existent in private sales. I'm not seeing a downside in this.
Private lands continue to be logged in a "sustainable" manner with no checks on the management. Logging practices have improved, and the loggers did this through state interference. Greenie involvement? I don't know, but it was a practice that was needed in some cases. But, the cut the best and leave the rest practices still remain. Even an industry led effort doesn't stem that since there are no checks or balances.
As I said before, I don't think the green movement has all the answers, or that we should even follow any of their recommendations. But, I don't think an industry led management scheme is the right road to go down, either.
