Oregon is home to some of the most spectacular forests in our country.  These public forests provide clean drinking water, beautiful places to get away from the hustle and bustle, and jobs in management, fire safety and tourism. Due to a back-door deal with the timber industry, over 2 million acres of Oregon’s national forests - managed by the Bureau of Land Management - are at risk. The federal government is attempting to remove environmental protections from public lands in the Cascade, Siskiyou and Coastal mountains.

2009 UPDATE: In December 2008, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management rejected more than 260 administrative protests submitted against its Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR). In their race to finish by the New Year's Eve deadline agreed upon by the timber industry and the Bush Administration, the BLM rebuffed the governor, antagonized the environmental community, ignored the public and railroaded the objections of its own scientists.

The sloppy science and steam roller tactics used by the BLM to push this sweeping logging plan through before Bush left office guaranteed a barrage of lawsuits from all sides. Members of the Oregon Heritage Forests campaign are being represented by Earthjustice and we are preparing to file suit for violation numerous federal laws including the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act.

TAKE ACTION TODAY: The fate of the WOPR, and Oregon's forests and salmon-bearing rivers, rests with the new Obama Administration. We are calling on people to contact the new Administration at whitehouse.gov and ask them to scrap the fundamentally flawed WOPR and start over with a plan aimed at strengthening protections for forests, species, watersheds and rural communities.

Background:

Help stop the Bush Administration’s plans to clearcut Oregon’s forest heritage - The Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) was released on October 9, 2008. This unpopular proposal comes in the 11th hour of one of the most unpopular presidencies in U.S. history. Click here to learn more about the FEIS.

The comment period for the BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the "Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR)" ended January 11, 2008.  Click here to read more about the draft plan.

Stiff and diverse opposition from the public has shone a light on what the WOPR has in store for remaining ancient forests, clean water and community stability.

County Payments Passes:

In early October, the world watched as the U.S. Congress bailed out a hemorrhaging Wall Street in an historic governmental intervention. Less known was that the Secure Rural Schools and Self-Determination Act, also known as “county payments,” was attached to the bailout. Originally passed in 2000, the law authorized funds for rural counties that were dependent on logging public lands to maintain libraries, law enforcement and other public services. The law expired in 2006, and the Oregon delegation has been working tirelessly to renew it, under nearly insurmountable opposition. In all, payments go to 700 counties in 39 states, with the majority in the West. This four year extension of county payments offers Western Oregon counties an opportunity to wean off federal payments and develop a sustainable economy.

Top Ten reasons why WOPR is a bad idea

Click here for the BLM WOPR website.

Click here to read the Community Conservation Alternative