BLM proposes major upswing in logging

Friday, August 10, 2007
SCOTT LEARN
The Oregonian

Federal officials want to nearly triple logging allowed on 2.5 million acres of forests in Western Oregon, in part by cutting older trees that are protected now and reducing reserves for the northern spotted owl.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management's draft plan also would triple federal payments to 18 Oregon counties and create as many as 3,500 new jobs, the agency said Thursday. Many of those counties have had to make steep budget cuts in recent years as federal timber revenue and a safety net replacing that money have declined.

Much of the increased logging would be of older trees that have been off limits under the Clinton administration's 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. The "preferred alternative" in the BLM's draft plan would boost logging of trees 200 years and older sevenfold over the next decade, from 5,100 acres to 34,800 acres.

The U.S. Forest Service also is pushing hard to increase logging on national forests in Oregon, as The Oregonian reported Thursday. The two agencies' efforts reflect a drive by the Bush administration to boost logging, which has fallen well short of goals set by the Northwest Forest Plan.

BLM officials stressed Thursday that there's plenty of room for tweaking the plan -- 1,650 pages and two years in the making. It goes out for public review for three months and 25 public meetings. A final decision is expected in August 2008.

"This is the most detailed and comprehensive analysis ever completed" on the BLM lands, said Ed Shepard, the agency's Oregon and Washington director. "But it's really just a start."

Split reactions

The new plan, prompted in part by the settlement of a timber industry lawsuit in 2003, gives logging a higher priority than on national forest lands. Most of the land involved falls into a unique class of acreage known as "O&C lands" that are supposed to be used for "permanent forest production."

The BLM still has to comply with the Endangered Species Act. The agency says increased logging would only slightly decrease salmon productivity and actual habitat for the spotted owl and marbled murrelet.
Conservation groups said the BLM's blueprint is part of a sellout to timber interests that will damage streams and old-growth forests.

Timber industry officials and county leaders said it will bring badly needed federal money to rural counties and thwart challenges of logging projects that have helped keep logging on BLM forests far below Clinton-era projections.

Departure from Northwest plan

Both sides agreed that the draft marks a sharp departure from the Northwest Forest Plan. That plan was supposed to end the Northwest's logging wars by protecting wildlife on 24 million acres while turning out a reliable supply of wood.

The draft environmental impact statement compares three alternatives to the Northwest Forest Plan status quo. The agency's preferred alternative would increase the land available for intensive logging from about 600,000 acres to 1.2 million acres. Other acreage would be available for thinning.

About half the increase would come from logging trees 80 years or older.

Allowable timber production would rise from 268 million board feet a year now to 727 million board feet -- enough to fill about 150,000 log trucks. That's still less than the annual growth rate of trees on the land and previous production, timber industry officials noted.

"That land has a lot more production than they are even considering," said Chris West, vice president of the American Forest Resource Council.

The Association of O&C Counties backed the BLM's preferred alternative Thursday, saying it best aligned with Congress' intent when lawmakers set policy for the Oregon & California Railroad lands in 1937.

"Very positive step"

Logging in federal forests dropped sharply in the 1990s because of the wildlife protections and other decisions. That prompted Congress to pass a law in 2000 providing money to counties to make up for lost timber revenue. But that deal could expire next year.

Jackson County, in southern Oregon, closed its 15 libraries when it appeared that Congress wouldn't reauthorize the money this year.

The BLM plan "is a very positive step and it's long-awaited," said Dennis C. W. Smith, chairman of the Jackson County commission. Smith said he's confident the plan will not harm southern Oregon's fishing streams.

Threat to streams

Conservationists said the plan will do significant harm, in part by allowing logging closer to streams. They said there's room to boost logging to needed levels without cutting old-growth trees. And they predicted that lawsuits will stall the plan's implementation.

"This is more about making a political point than about getting volume to the mills, because this is certainly going to go into litigation," said Steve Pedery, conservation director for Oregon Wild. "It's just ripping the bandages off the wounds of the timber wars."

Under a deal negotiated by Gov. Ted Kulongoski, Oregon fish and wildlife biologists and others advised the federal agency. That doesn't mean the governor endorses the plan, said Mike Carrier, Kulongoski's natural resources policy director.

"We're comfortable with the science they're using," Carrier said. "What will be at issue is how people interpret the science."

Scott Learn: 503-294-7657; [email protected]