yeahsureYnot t1_ja43qoi wrote on February 26, 2023 at 6:23 PM

ITT: people not realizing that DNR and USFS simply exist to manage a "crop" we call timber as a revenue source. They are not here to promote healthy ecology. They do that somewhat but it's mostly side pet projects.

punkmetalbastard t1_ja44ur0 wrote on February 26, 2023 at 6:30 PM

You have a good point here. A lot of people look at the For Service for their recreation duties or conservation efforts but their main function has been to facilitate timber sales. They are under the Department of Agriculture, after all

PepeLePuget t1_ja4i44w wrote on February 26, 2023 at 7:58 PM

Not so fun facts:

The US Forest Service is part of the Department of Agriculture

WA Department of Natural Resources gets most of its funding from forestry and geoduck harvesting

Edit: the DNR claim was cribbed from Wikipedia. Official data is here

AltOnMain t1_ja556xq wrote on February 26, 2023 at 10:34 PM

That may have been true of USFS 30 years ago, but as someone who bought log sales from USFS in the past, it’s just not the case in the PNW any more. Considering how much land USFS owns, they effective do not manage the land. I would be surprised if USFS applied some sort of management including hazardous fuels reduction (light thinning) to more than 0.1% of its land in WA in a year.

DNR on the other hand does have some set asides, but a lot of it’s land - maybe even most of its land is managed in a way that is similar to industrial timberland.