Friday, May 11, 2007

Heaping hate on loggers

My husband and I were both born in Sandpoint. His dad worked at the Pack River lumber mill near Dover and I'm proud to be a lumberjack's daughter. My mom would have breakfast ready for my dad before the rooster crowed. I should have known what was coming when retired Californians moved to Clark Fork and began to complain that the rumble of the logging truck woke them up at 4 o'clock in the morning.

Here are several excerpts from a book that was sent home from a Post Falls elementary school with my first-grade granddaughter this week: "Something bad was happening to the forest. The loggers were cutting down the trees. This place is getting unsafe. I hate that they are cutting down trees. I hate that they pave all the lanes for their big trucks. I blame the loggers." They went to their king who read their 10-page letter asking him to stop the loggers from cutting down trees. The king went into a rage and had the loggers put in a cage. The forest was saved and "they sat and drank lemonade by the lake" ("Snake and Ape").

That is sure a lot of blame and hate heaped upon the loggers. Ironic that the paper the story was written on was supplied by a logger.

Carol Saunders
Post Falls