| Logging has made an amazing comeback in New | | | | making lucrative private deals with loggers. Some of |
| York State that some find disturbing. Clear-cutting | | | | these deals involve "liquidation cutting" that is a |
| forests to create farmland was standard operating | | | | version of clear-cutting on a smaller scale. Local |
| procedure in New York until about 80 years ago. Until | | | | communities, however, have had some luck in |
| recently, there was virtually no logging industry in | | | | enacting local laws that restrict or even prohibit |
| New York, but just as the forests have rebounded, | | | | logging. The upshot of all this is that the logging |
| so has logging. World-wide demand for trendy | | | | industry in New York State finds itself mired in one |
| hardwoods like oak, poplar, cherry and maple has | | | | controversy after another. |
| spurred the resurgence logging operations in the | | | | Although the public perception is one of predatory |
| state. In addition, recent Federal regulations that limit | | | | loggers in collusion with a corrupt state government, |
| cutting on Federal lands in the western United States, | | | | many communities have taken steps to preserve |
| especially in the Pacific Northwest, have forced | | | | woodlands with stiff local laws and ordinances. |
| lumber companies to expand the areas in which they | | | | Another misperception has to do with the concept of |
| operate. | | | | "old-growth" woodlands. It is a sound forestry |
| These lumber companies have approached large | | | | practice to cut mature trees because this creates |
| numbers of landowners in New York, offering | | | | gaps in the forest canopy, allowing sunlight to reach |
| premium prices for stands of trees all over the state, | | | | smaller trees. These trees will produce another crop |
| even including trees the first-ring suburbs of New | | | | of lumber in 10 or 15 years. |
| York City. Logging in New York State centers on | | | | In this often hostile and politically-charged |
| wooded lots rather than old-growth forests. This is a | | | | environment, the logging industry in New York is |
| different type of logging from the familiar process of | | | | probably not a good career choice. The median hourly |
| logging the the deep woods. In New York State, | | | | rate for a logger in New York State at $12.00 is |
| landowners of plots as small as 10 acres have been | | | | substantially lower than Oregon at $19.00, Texas at |
| approached by lumber companies. | | | | $17.30 and California at $19.00. The cost of living in |
| In response to this trend, a trend that makes many | | | | New York State, when compared to these same |
| people uncomfortable, states like New York have | | | | states, is substantially higher, so loggers in New York |
| enacted programs and policies aimed at conserving | | | | State will feel the negative impact of low wages |
| forests while still utilizing some of the valuable trees | | | | more than they would in other states with lower |
| the contain. But because the land is not state-owned, | | | | costs of living. |
| government can do little to stop landowners from | | | | |