Your voice matters on proposed logging projects

It’s not too late to stop the Almost Round Lake logging project by the Idaho Department of Lands adjacent to Round Lake State Park. The logging plan includes clearcuts and seed tree clearcuts, threatens the park, nearby trails, and local biodiversity.

The proposed clearcut on the south side will destroy an ecologically intact forest that buffers temperature and moisture extremes, stores carbon, and provides habitat for goshawks. Trails to the dam on both sides of Cocolalla Creek will be impacted, and old trees — essential for the ecosystem — will be lost. Despite public perception, this land and trails to the dam are not part of the park but should be. Both units will heat up the local landscape and expose adjacent forests in the park to windthrow.

IDL justifies its destructive practices under constitutional mandates, while groups like the Panhandle Forest Collaborative and Idaho Conservation League, influenced by the Idaho Forest Group, are complacent by their silence

The State Board of Land Commissioners approves proposed timber sales in April, meaning there is still time to postpone action on this and conserve the area. We must act now, IDL has ignored requests for a public meeting about this project. Contact the IDL Coeur d’Alene Office at 208-769-1525 or Erik Sjoquist at esjoquist@idl.idaho.gov. Demand that this land be transferred to Idaho Parks to protect our forests and recreational spaces. Your voice matters.

PAUL SIERACKI

Priest River