Commissioner thanked for hard work

To The Eagle:

On behalf of Grays River Grange #124 and personally as well, I am writing to congratulate Commissioner Dan Cothren on the successful passage of legislation providing compensation for timber-dependent counties that host threatened and endangered wildlife, such as ours and to recognize and thank him for his faithful efforts in this direction over a long period.

When a limited resource base must provide for many needs, such as fiber, income for schools and counties and jobs as well as for watersheds and wildlife including the requirements of rare species, conflicts are inevitable. The trust-land transfer and revenue sharing program behind the new legislation is a creative, bipartisan approach that benefits everyone by allowing prime habitat to stand while ensuring the flow of logs and returns. We hope the results will truly help to stabilize our county budget, reducing the strain on the commissioners and departments alike, while maintaining vital services to the people.

Surely this imaginative resource-replacement scheme is a better way to go than for endangered species and cash-strapped counties to be always at loggerheads, spurred by a diminishing timber base and fluctuating markets for logs and products. We appreciate Commissioner Cothren's vision in championing this approach from very early on in the campaign and right the way through to passage.

Robert M. Pyle

Lecturer

Grays River Grange #124