County governments want their timber money. What can ya do?
Of course, the counties want their money, who doesn't? But, in the end, it still means more trees being cut and less management for all interests, including those of salmon. The focus will now be on a massive cutting in order to give the counties their money. Will the onslaught by humans against salmon ever end? Answer; NO!
But, to be fair to humans, here is some additional info from another article on the lawsuit:
"The jury found that the state owed those counties $1.1 billion in damages, including $674 million the counties contend they lost since 2001 because the state didn’t cut enough trees. The verdict also includes $392 million in future damages, which assumes the state will continue to manage the state forests in the same fashion, and fail to maximize timber revenues for the next 50 years."
So, I guess it is possible that since the counties' verdict includes future damages for the anticipated failure to cut trees in accordance with contractual requirements over the next 50 years, the state can eliminate the kicker and just pay the counties the money without increasing the timber cut. Or, the state could ask the courts to waive that portion of the judgment and simply cut the trees in accordance with the counties' interpretation of the contract. But, in the final analysis, I would suspect that the fish will not get off without any further damage by the time this is over. Of course, I have no faith in humans to do what is right as far as salmon runs are concerned, so I will admit to be overly pessimistic.
