Counterpoint: Keeping forest forest is worth the millions

The Star Tribune published a fundamentally flawed article on May 16 ("Giving money for nothing?") regarding the Upper Mississippi Forest project, the largest conservation project ever undertaken by the state of Minnesota.

All premise and no evidence, the article promoted the notion that none of the project's 290 square miles of privately owned property within Minnesota's North Woods would ever be developed and that all of the land would remain open to the public forever.

Anyone who has observed the changing trends in the forest-products industry cannot take this line of reasoning seriously. In fact, the Star Tribune published an excellent series of articles documenting the loss of industrial timberland and the resulting fragmentation of Minnesota's forests just a few years ago.

In case anyone has forgotten:

•Consolidated Paper Co. sold off all of its holdings on Minnesota's North Shore in the early 1990s. Much of this land has already been developed, and that which hasn't is now held by an out-of-state investor.

•Potlatch sold off tens of thousands of acres of its forestland in northern Minnesota and has posted no-trespassing signs around much of what remains in its ownership.

•Boise Cascade, another timber industry giant, sold all its forestland in Minnesota to an investment group in 2003 that has already sold -- and continues to sell -- tracts of 40 and 80 acres.

How long would the lands within the Upper Mississippi Forest project area remain undeveloped and open for recreation? The only thing one knows for sure is that if nothing is done, there will not be anything to stop this property from being broken up and sold off to the highest bidders.

The land includes more than 280 miles of shoreline along lakes and streams. Waterfront property is often the most valuable real estate owned by timber companies, and when they decide to maximize profits for their investors, these lands are quickly sold off for development.