If only we had the luxury of endorsing policies based on feelings. EPIC bases our analysis on facts.

It’s true that I could be accused of being a “Bully-Coward.” (In reference to his mentor, a young student writes, “he said that a really unattractive personality type was the journalistic bully-coward. That is, the person who breathes absolute fire when sitting at the keyboard, but skulks away nervously if he catches sight of someone he’d so fearlessly denounced from the writer’s chair. Yes, this kind of person existed even before the blog age!”) The only difference is, I would love to communicate directly to Colin Moseley that I think he and his team are doing a lousy job managing their lands. However, point taken, we should watch our use of inflammatory language as to not confuse readers.

I have a couple of questions for you at this point, considering you are weighing in, or should I say laying negative comment-bait, on pretty much every post we publish.

What do you think of Green Diamond’s clearcutting, (and) do you think this method of harvesting timber serves the best interest of the workers, the owls (and other species dependent on older forests) and the public trust?

How would you suggest that we proceed in our advocacy efforts? What should we do, to improve the health of these 400,000+ acres?

Right now we have the platform to educate the public by exposing the sugar coated language, the regulatory hoop-jumping and empty SFI certification that Simpson uses to deceive their customers.

Don’t you think we should use it to expose these contradictions?

You can find out what Bolithio thinks about clearcutting by reading Green Diamonds website. I think that descriptions of GD’s clearcuts as moonscapes is sometimes accurate but not generally, they usually come off to me as weed infested slash fields that will not even resemble a healthy Redwood forest for 80 to 100 years.

Oh yeah, by healthy I mean biologically and structurally diverse and resilient.

One more thing- the forest may be able to recover in 80-100 years, but Green Diamond’s policy is to cut the forest back down every 45 years.

You say that you argue with facts, but then state that Green Diamond cuts, burns, sprays every 45 years. Where in the California Forest Practice Rules or in either of their habitat conservation plans does it allow that? Furthermore, if they were to burn every clearcut the county would be covered in ash all winter! The regional air board would never allow that much burning. Check their permit with the board!

You state you argue with fact?!? You would be a more credible source of information if you did basic research instead of relying on rhetoric and heresay with the sole intent of enflaming the environmental community. Where are the state and federal agencies backing your claims? Are they being paid off by Green Diamond in some elaborate scheme to continue entering into agreements that are more restrictive than the standard state rules?

EPIC has the resources and talent to offer much more than this. There are far greater environmental injustices occurring near and far from Humboldt County. I believe checks and balances should always be in place to avoid the problems we had with corporations like PALCO, but this campaign against green diamond only serves as farce and makes EPIC look like its trolling the internet for money.