Oregon Forest Heritage on the Bush Administration's Chopping Block

from Sierra Club, Oregon chapter

The Bush Administration has just released its final plan to significantly increase logging on 2.6 million acres of public land in western Oregon by clearcutting and reducing protections for salmon-bearing creeks and streams. Rising out of an agreement between the timber industry and the Bush Administration, the Bureau of Land Management's 'Western Oregon Plan Revision' is the gravest threat to Oregon's ancient forests in years.

The Final Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) will mean the loss of ancient forests from the northern Willamette Valley to southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains.

When the BLM released the WOPR draft plan in 2007, 30,000 members of the public commented; over 90% asked the BLM to save the remaining older forests, protect clean drinking water, and concentrate forest management on restoration. The BLM ignored this common ground, common sense approach to forest management.

The final plan boosts clearcut logging across hundreds of thousands of acres. This would be an unprecedented and unsustainable increase in clearcut logging Oregon's forests and by the BLM's own admission will open up currently protected streamside forests and 'old-growth reserves' to new clearcutting.

Across western Oregon, during the first decade, the Bush Administration's plan will:

• Remove BLM forests from the scientific framework of the Northwest Forest Plan.


• Ramp up clearcut logging across hundreds of thousands of acres and get over 70% of the timber volume from clearcuts.


• Reduce streamside buffers that protect clean water and fish by 50%.


• Log some of the last remaining older forests in western Oregon.


• Increase logging by nearly 400% compared to current logging levels.


• Add 180 million tons more carbon to the atmosphere compared to no logging. (equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 1 million cars driven for 132 years).


• Result in 1,300 miles of new logging roads.

Take Action Today!

1) Call the Governor - Urge Governor Kulongoski to reject the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision and ask him to stand up to the Bush administration and prevent them from logging Oregon's old growth forests and threatening clean water and wild salmon. Call the Governor at 503-378-4582 or send an email at http://www.governor.state.or.us/Gov/contact_us.shtml. Sample letter below.

2) Write a Letter to the Editor - Make your voice of opposition to the Bush Administration's old growth logging plans heard in your local newspaper. Call on Governor Kulongoski to take a strong stand against BLM's latest clearcut logging plan. You can email the Oregonian letters of up to 150 words at letters@news.oregonian.com

You could also contact your Senators and Members of Congress and tell them to stop the Bush Administration's attempts to sell off Oregon's ancient forests and stop the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision.

**Sample letter** - feel free to personalize and send in.

Dear Governor,
I am very concerned about the 2.6 million acres of forest managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in Oregon. The BLM is moving forward with the Western Oregon Plan Revision, which will increase logging in Oregon’s forests by 400% by clearcutting in currently protected old growth forest reserves and sensitive salmon bearing rivers and creeks.

The Northwest Forest Plan's protections should remain in place for BLM lands, not sacrificed in an out-of-court deal between the timber industry and the White House. Oregon ancient forests deserve permanent protection and should be managed to maintain important public assets such as clean drinking water, habitat for fish and wildlife, diverse recreation opportunities, stunning scenery, and jobs in forest restoration, fire safety and tourism.

Ancient forests in Oregon also serve as an important carbon storage and sequestration resource to help mitigate global warming. The BLM's plans for increased logging in these ancient forests under the Western Oregon Plan Revision will take America backwards in efforts to prevent global climate change. Clearcutting and damage to soils from logging has been shown to release tremendous amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, while old forests absorb and store carbon dioxide.

I am concerned that the changes the BLM has proposed in its Western Oregon Plan Revision will lead to the loss of Oregon's irreplaceable ancient forests, water pollution, degraded habitat, and increased conflict and controversy.

Much of the BLM forests in western Oregon are adjacent to private landowners who would like to see nearby forest managed to protect their home from wildfire and to preserve their water supply, scenery, and recreation opportunities. Additionally, these forests are owned by Americans across the nation, who would like to see them strongly protected for future generations to enjoy.

Please protect western BLM forests and maintain the Northwest Forest Plan reserve system. Please use your power to rein in the Bush administration and prevent them from spending money to log old growth forests, and stop the BLM from selling off Oregon's ancient forest heritage.

Sincerely,

Other useful information:
Visit http://sierraclub.org/forests/ to find out more about the Sierra Club's positions on forest issues and useful information on effective community protection from wildfire
Visit http://www.oregonheritageforests.org/ to learn more about the background of BLM's 2.6 million acres and the major issues at stake. This site is not maintained by the Sierra Club and not all views expressed are necessarily those of the Sierra Club.
View the BLM's Western Oregon Plan revision web page at http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/wopr/.
To order a DVD on the history of the BLM in Oregon (Boom, Bust and the BLM) email tsuga@efn.org.
For more information, please contact Ivan Maluski with the Oregon Chapter Sierra Club at 503-238-0442, x304 or ivan.maluski@sierraclub.org.

Background on the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision...
In the early planning stages for the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revision, over 90% of the nearly 3,000 comments submitted to the Bush Administration asked for protection of mature and old-growth forests. Most Oregonians want the federal government to safe-guard communities from wildfire while protecting what remains of our nation's ancient forests.
Unfortunately, the Bush Administration's preferred alternative outlined for the BLM would manage over one million acres as Timber Management Areas - managed solely for rotation forestry - where hundreds of thousands of acres of currently protected ancient forests would be converted into industrial tree farms over time. Under this plan, wildlife, salmon, recreation and clean water would be secondary to timber industry profits.

Losing ancient forests
The Western Oregon Plan Revision covers six districts of the BLM: Medford, Roseburg, Eugene, Salem, Coos Bay and the Klamath Falls area of the Lakeview District, which is approximately 2.6 million acres of public land in western Oregon. This is an area larger than the states of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Forests in the Rogue, Umpqua and Willamette River basins are primarily affected, as well as many of Oregon's coastal watersheds.

The WOPR has three primary alternatives, including the Bush Administration's 'preferred' alternative: Alternative 2. Under this plan, the BLM would clearcut 139,700 acres (over 200 square miles) of mature and old growth forest while building 1,000 miles of logging roads per decade, converting pristine ancient forests into monoculture tree farms. Clearcutting would become the preferred logging method, and 24% of all logging would target trees 200 years and older.

The WOPR effectively pulls the BLM forests out from the scientific framework of the Northwest Forest Plan. The Northwest Forest Plan was enacted in 1994 and set aside old growth forests and sensitive areas along streams and rivers to protect them - while allowing some continued logging. Every alternative in the WOPR, however, would greatly increase the logging of mature and old-growth forests to levels before the Northwest Forest Plan.

There is a better way
Oregonians don't have to choose between a healthy timber industry and their old-growth forest heritage or clean water. The timber industry in Oregon is prospering, in 2006 marking the highest levels of logging since the early 1990's primarily from vast private land holdings in Oregon. At a time when public consensus over old-growth protection has never been stronger, the Bush Administration is handing over our public ancient forests to the timber industry, which is prospering without having to log ancient forests and public lands.

There is a better way. Some Oregon forest managers are beginning to move beyond the conflicts of the past by focusing on removing old logging roads and restoring damaged tree plantations created from past clearcutting. Others are focused on thinning brush and small trees from areas near communities to protect them from wildfire. Protecting communities from fire and creating jobs in restoring damaged landscapes, while protecting ancient forests, should be the top priority of federal land management agencies. Unfortunately, the Bush administration wants to put the chainsaws and bulldozers back in the old growth forests instead of protecting communities from fire and creating jobs in restoring damaged landscapes.