"We formed the Friends of the Carbon Canyon in 1996 to fight

back. The only reason the timber industry does any environmental review is

because they have to. All they’re really concerned about is their profits. And

they’re going to take away from all of the landowners who live around there

and anybody else who gets in their way. They say they’re trying to do the right

thing and well, may be a lot of them are, but they’re not."

                                                         July 2003: Boynton

 

"I’m a northwest herbalist and I live in the Upper Carbon Canyon.

I’ve watched plants disappear. I’ve watched things disappear. I hear all kinds

of words being spoken, but the reality here on the ground is that all of this needs

to be watched. You know we can call it a non-segmented unit here or there,

but again the fact remains as you drive up the Canyon, there’s a cut here,

there’s a cut here, there’s a cut here, there’s a cut here. Then they come and

spray. They spray our water. They’ve made us sick. They’ve made our

animals sick.

We must keep WAC 197-11-305 in effect because it is our only tool to make

any difference. I ask you to drive up there and take a look. We hear that it

might be a little more expensive to do this. Well, it’s the timber industry. We

do need logging. We need timber for some things. But we do not need to

devastate one of our national treasures which is the Carbon Canyon Valley."

                                                        July 2003: V.  B.

 

"We formed Friends of the Carbon Canyon in 1996, when three mudslides from logging sites just missed our loaded school bus.

With our core group of locals, we've expanded to 300-400+ people on our mailing list who are also concerned about the Upper Carbon Valley.

As a watchdog group, we've tackled things such as; dangerous logging and it's chemical spraying near our houses; meth labs; poaching; garbage dumping; etc.

We've also brought attention to private land sales to assist in getting them into public hands for future recreation lands, with over 2,500 acres already set aside.

We've also insisted on 'corporate responsibility' from companies doing business here. Our newest mission is to keep septage from being sprayed into our waters.

My personal concern is the fish and animals. The heavy logging and it's poisons, and the trapping wiped out everything from bugs and birds and bees to our

migrating herds and other mammals. I'd like my grandchildren's grandchildren to see this rainforest like I remember from my youth wild and mossy and

beautiful and full of life like a rainforest should be !!!!"

                                                            Mardel Chowen      South Prairie