May 3rd 2001

Letter to the Editor
Mendocino Beacon
May 3, 2001

Editor:

The recent meeting at the Albion Elementary School was presented by its Albion activist organizers as an opportunity for those with an interest in the "Enchanted Meadow" Timber Harvest Plan submitted by Mendocino Redwood Co., to meet with company representatives. A community dialogue was promised wherein concerns could be addressed and questions answered.

What was delivered could be more accurately described as a collective diatribe. Company representatives were accorded few opportunities for response as they endured a succession of furious harangues by the assembled. Facts were clouded, civility abandoned, and sadder still, the carefully documented work that had been prepared by resident environmentalists was overshadowed by the posturing and insults directed at the MRC foresters. The audience hooted and stamped their derision with each attack. That the representatives maintained their composure, attempting to clarify without returning the rancor with which questions were posed was impressive.

Our community has likewise been involved in negotiations with our corporate neighbors, first L-P, and then MRC for the past 14 years, We too feel that although it can be a challenging process, it is essential for concerned citizens to study the effects locally (and yes, internationally) of the utilization of our natural resources and right to question the methods and the plans (present and future) outlined in company practices. In the beginning there was certainly mistrust, but respect is a monument mutually constructed. L-P extended us great consideration and MRC has continued and expanded an open response to community input - addressing concerns, sharing data and acting to protect our water and viewsheds.

We have found that if approached as a neighbor, the likelihood of benefit to both sides is greatly increased. This has been a valuable lesson. The very quality that residents have in their love for, and experience of a place can be an asset, if realized, to a corporate landowner. Trying to fight with them is not very productive, no matter how exciting it might be. Logging adjacent forests is tough on a community when few among its members derive their livelihood from this activity. But the alternatives of subdivision, timberland conversion, or sale to a shadowy financial group are even less appealing. There are companies who are working to incorporate a more caring ideal. If that goal cannot be achieved with this company, it is worthy to have tried to make it work, and tried hard. That is why it was so painful to experience the climate of hostility at the meeting with MRC foresters. They aren't the enemy. To quote Pogo, "I have seen the enemy and it is us." If we are to speak for the trees, the creatures, and indeed, our earth, then let us use our best voice.

Judy Garratt
Comptche