The Ohio Division of Natural Resources continues with its “Forest Management for Greed” with no regard for the desires of the people of this county.

The ice storm is used as an excuse to pillage our forest. A forest official once said the forest looked like a war zone after the ice storm. It is a war zone, a war on nature for the selfish desires of a few. A study by The Ohio State University concluded that Ohio does not need the wood from its state forests.

A senator's legislative aide once told me the politicians in Columbus feel that the public is stupid. With ODNR's excuses for burning and logging, it also treats the public as if we are ignorant.

A Portsmouth Daily Times article stated that without fire, the maples would outgrow the oaks, and this means less food for wildlife. I have never seen the maples take over the forests in southern Ohio. What I have seen is maples growing back first after a clear-cut.

By nature, Shawnee is a diverse, deciduous forest, called mesophytic. It has numerous species of trees, with oak being one of the dominant species. Eastern deciduous forests are not dependent upon fire as are the western coniferous forests. Using the coniferous forests as an example as to why Ohio's forests should be burned is comparing apples to oranges.

The real threat to the oaks and the wildlife is ODNR's logging and burning. Mature trees are cut that produce acorns. It takes oaks decades to start producing acorns.

Only small sticks, limbs and brush are burned during a prescribed burn. As Dr. Todt noted, these already are decaying or are decayed. Large downed logs are not burned because the fire would become too hot and damage the live trees. Make no mistake, the burning is about getting money from federal government and playing with fire.

Thanks to the experts, Dr. Adams and Dr. Todt, for lending legitimacy to the arguments of the environmentalists and helping to protect the health of our residents. A special thanks to Dot Culver and Barbara Lund for their tireless work on this issue.

I am pleading to ODNR Director Sean Logan, Rep. Book, Sen. Niehaus and Gov. Strickland to stop the burning and logging, particularly the clear-cutting. Under Gov. Strickland's direction, Logan has the authority to change the forest management plan and stop this destruction.

Cheryl Carpenter

Lucasville