March 8th, 2007

Ruling May Bring An End To Old-Growth Logging On Mt. Hood

Forestry industry reps say that when Judge Michael Mosman blocked the timber sale, its impact was limited. And as Rob Manning reports, the decision comes in a forest debate that's been complicated by financial pressure.

The Slinky timber sale is just 184 acres - a tiny fraction of the thousands of acres in the Mount Hood National Forest.

So when Judge Mosman ruled the sale illegal, timber industry reps barely noticed.

Chris West is with the American Forest Resources Council. He says rulings like the one this week deal with procedures, not policy.

Chris West: "There hasn't been an indictment on whether it's the Mount Hood Forest Plan or the Clinton-Gore Northwest Forest Plan. Those are still the guiding plan on which the 24 million acres of northwest forests are being managed."

But Alex P. Brown with the Portland conservation group, Bark, says the sale is significant. His group won the lawsuit.

Alex P. Brown: "To our knowledge, the Slinky timber sale was the last old-growth timber sale on the Mount Hood National Forest. And that's the way we want it to stay."

Brown says the roots of Mosman's decision reach back more than a decade, when concerns about water quality galvanized opposition to old-growth logging on Mount Hood.

Representatives of the forest products industry argue that environmental groups change the definition of "old growth" when it suits them. And, even if conservationists are right, that courts have closed a door on logging old trees, Brown says his group is still concerned.

Alex P. Brown: "In particular, the Bush Administration Forest Service has made it clear that logging remains a priority on our national forests. In Mount Hood National Forest alone, the budget continues to go up, while the budgets for recreation and restoration continue to remain flat, or go down."

Timber advocates say there is reason to press for increased logging on federal lands. Counties across Oregon are struggling financially, after the feds cut off subsidies for areas that once benefited from timber revenue.

Chris West with the American Forest Resources Council says logging can help many counties recover.

Chris West: "We need some timber harvest, we need to fully implement the Clinton-Gore Forest plan, to at least get some money returning to these counties to provide for schools, roads, and sheriffs' departments."

At a recent Senate hearing, a top agriculture official said that rule changes should make logging easier in some forests.

That has some conservationists worried. Several such groups have presented ideas they believe can spare the oldest stands of trees, while still bringing money to counties.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/opb/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1050533