Kleenex and the Clear-Cutting of North America's Forests

As I poured through the many blogs that I read this morning, I stumbled across this article from the blog of the sister of M. Distressa, a colleague from work. Anyone who has traveled the Olympic peninsula in Washington State is aware of the clear-cutting of the forests up there. The Kimberly-Clark company has a poor environmental record according to the WWF. And as production of tissues continues, a forrest diminishes in size.

I have been to the Seattle area five times in my life and I have seen evidence of this clear cutting. Here are some examples of what I've seen or heard:

• I heard park rangers working in the Olympic National park telling stories of going home at night and seeing stadium lights being used on Vancouver Island so that loggers can continue working 24/7.



• On a camping trip to Vancouver Island in 1994, some friends and I were late in arriving to our campsite. As a result, we had to sleep in our rental car along the road. Although my friends were able to sleep soundly, I could not. I noticed during the night that logging trucks were constantly passing us. When morning came, we were asking ourselves how many trucks passed by. Without missing a beat I said "17." This is another example of the logging industry working 24/7.



• On a 1990 hiking trip along the Hoh River trail we made a grocery stop in Forks, Washington located just west of the Olympic National park. As my buddies and I entered the store, we noticed a sign as we entered that read "We Support the Timber Industry." We noticed the same sign at other places of business (gas stations, restaurants, etc). Some cars even had bumper stickers reading "I prefer the spotted owl FRIED," a reference to the timber industry's threat to the spotted owl in Oregon and Washington. This clearly tells me that the people who live there feel they can only make a living through this industry.

Of course, it would be foolish to say "Let's completely shut down the logging industry." It can't be done. But what I believe can be done is if we regulate the corporations who hire the logging companies. Hit them in the profit-loss column, fine them, make them look for other natural resources to use.
From the beginning of our country's history, the government has been passing legislation to protect some of our lands (for example, declaration of land for government use, the designation of land to be a National Park). And that's good. But what we need our government to do is to relentlessly hold companies like Kimberly-Clarke accountable for their actions in destroying our beautiful lands. This tissue company is one of many companies that are flushing our beautiful landscape away.