1990 RESOLUTIONS
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| 22. | RESOLUTION ON OLD GROWTH
AND JOBS |
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| ISSUE | In the event the remnants
of old growth forests in the Northwest are preserved as wilderness in
perpetuity, there will follow the loss of many jobs for those presently
employed in the forests. Also, there will be an adverse effect on
the economics of the timber-dependent communities in which they
live. However, should logging under present practices prevail, in
less than a generation the workers and communities will face the same
situation, but with this difference: The trees of the old growth
forests will be gone, never to be restored. The landscape will be
dotted with ghost towns because of failed businesses and the departure
of the working population seeking jobs elsewhere. Such has been
the fate of innumerable ghost mining towns scattered throughout the
West. |
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| STATUS |
In pressing for the saving
of old growth now, environmentalists are not oblivious to the tragic
effect on families deprived of a means of making a living, and offer
some practical proposals to cushion the effect of job loss: |
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1) Thousands of jobs
of thinning and reforesting should be offered by the timber
companies.
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2) The federal
government should provide low-interest, long-term loans to establish a
diverse economic base for timber-dependent communities, including
wood-working enterprises, tourism, small manufacturing plants, and the
like.
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3) Sawmills have been
forced to shut down because they were unable to compete for the large
old growth trees for which many have been tooled. Low interest
loans should be provided to enable them to re-tool for milling smaller,
second growth trees and thus restore lost jobs.
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4) Workers should be
re-trained to gain competence in other trades.
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5) Federal funds
should be provided to create jobs at established union wages, jobs
designed to maintain and improve the infrastructure of the
timber-dependent communities. Workers want meaningful jobs, not
welfare checks.
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| The F.W.O.C. believes that
the posing of jobs against the spotted owl is a myth which is
encouraged and promoted by the large timber corporations,
designed to drive a wedge between the forest workers and the
environmentalists. It should be exposed as such. |
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| WHAT TO DO |
The Federation of Western
Outdoor Clubs proposes that environmental leaders and the woodworkers
union should meet together and work out by consensus a program
regarding old growth forests that will be economically and
environmentally compatible. |
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| Copies of this resolution
and/or correspondence regarding it should be sent to the International
Woodworkers of America, the Sawmill Workers Union, and other unions
representing woodworkers in the timber industry. |
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