Writes Greg Privette:

Hi Lew,

I saw several posts today on LRC related to forest management. From around early November to usually late March I do a lot of hiking, primarily in the Talladega National Forest. The Alabama part of the forest service does a lot of regular controlled burns in that area. I saw this sign at one of the trail heads a couple of years ago and took a photo since it shows a completely different approach to forest management than what you see on the west coast. Hopefully the photo is readable.

I don’t recall the gentleman’s name, but I remember the founder of Green Peace telling the story of how his mind was changed with regards to government ownership of forest land. He said several years after the eruption of, I believe Mount St. Helens, they were flying around the area looking at how the landscape had recovered after being devastated by the volcano. He said they kept seeing a stark contrast between land that remained a baron moonscape and other areas that were once again lush and green. When consulting maps of the area they came to find out the moonscape areas were all government land and the well recovered lush green areas were owned by timber companies.