LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: CHIP MILLS HAVE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY

To the editor:

In its zeal to demonize Democrats and promote the interests of short-term gain at the cost of environmental destruction, yet again a Southeast Missourian editorial oversimplifies an issue to the point of deceit.

It is true, as you argue, that chip-mill companies do not themselves log forests. But it is equally true that the person hiring an assassin does not commit the murder. Ethically and legally, however, we hold the instigator of assassination as responsible as the killer. So it is with chip mills. By offering landowners significant sums of money for their trees, chip-mill owners encourage landowners to undertake forest mining.

As always, the editors decry the need for regulations. But the sad reality is that after years of educational opportunities and encouragement to undertake responsible management voluntarily, many landowners and loggers continue to ignore the tenets of sound forest management in the interests of short-term profit. The consequences of forest destruction, soil erosion, neighborhood flooding and stream pollution can be seen within a couple of hours of Cape Girardeau by anyone interested in driving a short distance into the Ozarks.

Unfortunately, chip mills are not the benign neighbors that they, and the Southeast Missourian, would have us believe. They have a profound and very obvious track record of promoting forest destruction wherever they go.

What is regrettable is that the governors' chip-mill advisory committee did not fully acknowledge that years of reliance on voluntary application of sound forest management has failed. Along with private-property rights go responsibilities. It is when landowners fail to conduct themselves in a responsible manner that regulations are needed. Regulations can even the playing field so that responsible Missourians are not held at a short-term economic disadvantage by the behavior of irresponsible neighbors.

If the Southeast Missourian were to permit a decent dose of contrary opinion in its pages, readers might have some chance to read and learn evidence and arguments that are contrary to editorial opinions.

ALAN R.P. JOURNET

Cape Girardeau