Colorado ignored the warning: Now the aspens are disappearing
By Greg Walcher | Commentary, GregWalcher.com
German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer wrote that “Truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident.”
Twenty-eight years ago, in the summer of 1998, the Club 20 Research Foundation published a report called “Decline of the Aspen: A Special Report on the Health of National Forests in Colorado.” It attracted substantial media coverage, widespread opposition to its recommendations, and even ridicule from some environmental industry groups that considered themselves superior experts on forest management.
The Report suggested a growing crisis in Western Colorado’s aspen forests. Then-State Forester James Hubbard was quoted saying, “If the U.S. Forest Service po...
