Progressive Lands Commissioner Cuts Down "Ax Men"
Adam Bartz, Washington State Political Director on March 24, 2009 1:07 PM
With a new sheriff in town at the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), citizens of Washington State can be assured that our public lands and resources are being properly managed. Earlier this month, DNR enforcement officers busted S&S Aqua Logging and seized more than 50 logs and other pieces of wood after the company was showcased on the History Channel program "Ax Men." Jimmy and James Smith of S&S were featured on "Ax Men" illegally salvaging logs from the Hoquiam River.
The river bottom is considered state aquatic lands and the logs are public property. A permit would be required to remove the logs, however, permits are not normally issued because of the adverse ecological impact on log harvesting from waterways.
You can watch a KING 5 news report on the bust here.
I'm a DNR employee and progressive to boot. I like Peter and all the stuff he says he stands for. I support these ax men getting busted for their illegal activity.
What I don't agree with is that Peter Goldmark is progressive.
Peter Goldmark was part of Governor Gary Locke's Sustainable Washington Advisory Panel started in 2002. There was a lot of talk then about achieving a fully sustainable Washington within one generation, yet here we are 7 years later worst off than ever.
There's a lot of talk at the DNR about change, sustainability, and transparency but very little action follows any of it. Is this politics? I'm not sure but what I do know is the DNR is run by people doing very little to reduce costs other than displacing employees. There's no commitment to any projects which could really project Washington into the 21st century. There's just a bunch of people going to meeting after meeting to discuss their budget woes and how to squeeze through this crisis without doing much to change.
One could say it's this lack of change that directly led to a lot of the budget problems the state is now having.
I've blogged about the ideas DNR employees have presented to DNR management and the lack of a response to these ideas.
http://chrome-toaster.blogspot.com/2009/03/so-many-ideas-so-little-action.html