Guess which land belongs to our “Good Corporate Neighbor”, Plum Creek Timber Company, (those bare, light colored hills used to look like the forest in the foreground),
and think of our hypocrisy when we teach our children about the evils of the de-forestation of the tropical rain forests. Then contemplate the things for which we traded those forested mountainsides; officers salaries and corporate profits, perhaps?
(Photographed from within the National Forest high on the west slope of Patrick’s Knob.)
Montana Outdoors 
nice capture…hypocrisy indeed…
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Comment by Sumedh — August 21, 2008 @ 9:58 pm
I’m almost surprised they did not paint the barren hillsides green after stripping them, but fortunately paint costs money.
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Comment by Tabbie — August 22, 2008 @ 5:33 am
And they think no one sees, deep in the wilderness.
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking on why people choose to walk a lower road rather than do what is truly right and good. I dealt with a salesman yesterday who was pushy and rude, and when I attempted to cancel the order after realizing what type of company I was dealing with, I really felt a deep sense of frustration. I must have said firmly I want to cancel at least 25 times, no exaggeration, and he purposely mis-heard me or ignored me. Finally I said I would call the credit card company and stop payment and he said OK and hung up on me.
I tried to imagine what would make a man choose this way of making a dollar. He would have to know what he is doing, he would have had to be trained in these methods because he pushed hard, but stopped just this side of illegal. Somehow, socety now allows people to do their jobs no matter what, as long as it is “legal” – legal certainly has nothing to do with moral any longer. That’s for sure.
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Comment by Bo — August 22, 2008 @ 7:19 am
We’re all little balls of contradiction, but this is a tragedy of gargantuan proportions.
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Comment by Pinhole — August 22, 2008 @ 8:14 am
Sumedh,
One of the sad things that no one else around here even sees it although it’s plainly visible from town.
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Comment by montucky — August 22, 2008 @ 9:05 am
Tabbie,
I’m sure if they had painted it they would have used the leaded variety.
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Comment by montucky — August 22, 2008 @ 9:07 am
Bo,
You’re right, people do make choices. When I was in college I took a part time job working for an attorney in Seattle as a “skip tracer”, one who tracks down people who owe debts with the goal of collecting them. Once I found out what some of the methods were and how un-feeling and crooked some of those methods were I quit right away. It was not a difficult choice, even though the money was pretty good.
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Comment by montucky — August 22, 2008 @ 9:13 am
Pinhole,
This photo was taken just over the hill from the ones I posted earlier, and they are still doing the same thing there. Part of this scene is even visible from Plum Creek’s new “McMansion” development here where they are asking over $10,000 per acre for worthless land. Talk about arrogance!
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Comment by montucky — August 22, 2008 @ 9:16 am
Beuatiful foreground. Raped background. At least someone got rich. Always wondered why they “have” to clear cut. why not leave soe standing timber patches?
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Comment by Charles — August 24, 2008 @ 2:08 pm
different perspective when we bring it home, isn’t it?
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Comment by silken — August 24, 2008 @ 3:02 pm
Charles,
Those are Plum Creek lands and they seem to prefer to just destroy as they log. Way back when, the clearcuts in the National Forest were done in blocks spaced in with other blocks of undisturbed forest. I still didn’t like it but it made more sense than what Plum Creek does. One of the other problems in the area of that photo is that those areas low on the mountainsides just don’t get the precipitation that it takes to re-grow the forests, and when they are that badly damaged, they look like moonscapes for many years.
Thanks for visiting!
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Comment by montucky — August 24, 2008 @ 5:20 pm
Silken,
Yes it is. I guess it’s OK when we do it. In South America it’s called “destroying the ecology”. In Montana it’s called “utilizing our natural resources”.
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Comment by montucky — August 24, 2008 @ 5:25 pm
the stark contrast is heartbreaking.
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Comment by Cedar — August 25, 2008 @ 7:18 am
Yes it is. That’s one of the reasons that conservationists are trying so hard to save the remaining roadless areas.
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Comment by montucky — August 25, 2008 @ 5:28 pm