Document text
He recalls when clearcuts were a bright, new idea By PAUL FATTIG EAGLE POINT � When Ed Hanscom was a youngster, federal land management agencies announced a brand-new policy. It was called clearcutting. "My father was adamantly opposed to it," Hanscom recalled. "He was concerned about the southern exposures around here. It�s too hot in the summertime to reforest them. "He and some old foresters from Boise Cascade (Corp.) adamantly opposed clearcutting," he added. "But they (government) did it anyway." Clearcutting was considered a promising new forest management practice in the years immediately following World War II, explained Hanscom, now 56 and president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association. The goal was to supply enough timber for the building boom after the war, he said. "We were also going to liquidate old-growth forests because old growth was thought to be stagnant and declining," he said. "We wanted to convert it all to second growth to make it grow fast and pretty. It was believed to be the right thing to do at the time." The second-generation Southern Oregon logger shakes his head at how the political winds have changed directions over the years. Seen half a century ago as doing something good for the nation, the timber industry is now unfairly perceived by many as an evil entity, he said. "We�ve been vilified in the media by the environmentalists for years," he said. "Something that really (ticks) me off is that we are all so concerned about heritage and culture, yet people think nothing of trashing ours. "Maybe we haven�t been vocal enough or most of us were too damn busy to tell our story," he added. "For too many years, we took the high road. We felt we were right and the hell with what others think." He figures it�s time that loggers go out on a limb to tell their story. "I hate to see my heritage, my culture, being trashed," said Hanscom, who serves on the boards of both the Oregon Logging Conference and the Pacific Logging Conference. During the summers while still a teenager, he began working for his father, Harry Hanscom, and uncle Harold Hanscom, owners of Hanscom Brothers Inc. The brothers had started the logging firm shortly after the end of the war. "I was cutting logs when I was 14," Ed Hanscom said. A 1963 graduate of Eagle Point High School, he later attended Oregon State University, where he earned a bachelor�s degree in forestry in 1971. He worked for Hanscom Brothers upon graduating from college. "In the 1970s, when Hanscom Brothers Inc. was going big time, a couple of years there I put 100,000 miles on my pickup," he said. "It�s not like that anymore." He and his wife, Susan, and another couple, who have since bought out, started Eagle Point-based HM Inc. 15 years ago. The firm employs about 50 people during the summer. His father is semi-retired but his uncle, now in his early 70s, runs tractor for HM Inc. "My father may run loader for us this summer," Ed Hanscom said. "They both like logging." They and Ed Hanscom may be the last loggers in the family tree. Ed and Susan have three grown daughters, all of whom have college degrees. One is a pharmacist, another a teacher and the third an engineer. None work in the timber industry. While there are still talented employees available, the deck isn�t as large as it was just a few years ago, he said. "Good workers can do anything in the woods," he said. "But about the third or fourth time they get laid off for some stupid reason, like a court injunction or whatever, they just say, �Screw it!� and go find other work. They�ve got house payments and families to support." Unlike most firms, which have switched to logging private tracts, HM Inc. has continued working on public land. "We�ve found a niche in working on density management � shaded fuel breaks � on public land," he said. "It�s kind of salvage from beneath. We figured we needed to find a niche to survive. "If we are going to operate on public lands � whether I agree with the way it�s being done or not � we have to deal with the way they want it done," he said. Hanscom believes much more timber can be cut on public lands without causing environmental damage. "We are well on the way of regulating much of the industry out of the Northwest because we can�t compete with the stuff coming in from New Zealand, South America and Canada," he said. "There are huge quantities of wood that will be coming available in the next 10 years offshore that doesn�t live by the same set of rules we have." The result will undercut the domestic timber industry and cause environmental degradation on foreign soil, he said. "There will be more of us going away," he said of local and regional firms. "We�re not managing our public lands the way we should." Still, he doesn�t believe the timber industry will ever be clearcut. "Reasonable natural resource extraction is a good idea," he said. "That�s how this country was founded." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.