The BLM released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the "Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR)" on August 10, 2007. The preferred alternative would increase logging of trees 200 years and older sevenfold over the next decade. Yes, you read that correctly, a 700 percent increase in logging Oregon's last old-growth forests! Nearly 30,000 people submitted comments on the draft plan and the most common comment was to protect remaining old-growth.

The comments sent in against the myopic BLM proposal were diverse and comprehensive. To get a sense of the widespread concern, click here to read a report issued by hunters and anglers, an article on NOAA Fisheries comments or comments from the American Fisheries Society.

Click here to read a harsh critique from the BLM's own scientists.

Top Ten reasons why WOPR is a bad idea

Click here for the BLM WOPR website.

Click here to read the Community Conservation Alternative

Here are a few highlights from the BLM's Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

TARGETING OLD-GROWTH

This graph shows the emphasis on old-growth logging (age of trees on the horizontal axis) under the BLM's "Preferred Alternative (#2)." The darker grays show types of thinning, whereas the light gray is what the BLM calls, "Regeneration harvest with no green tree retention," aka "clearcut."  DEIS page 572.

CLEARCUT VS. THINNING

This graph shows the type of logging method for each of the BLM Districts under all 4 alternatives. The "no action" alternative on the far left is the status quo, aka the Northwest Forest Plan. While the BLM's preferred alternative (#2) proposes some thinning (pink and blue), clearcutting (purple) is the preferred method of logging, especially in the Medford District. DEIS page 578.

SHRINKING RIPARIAN BUFFERS

This figure shows the riparian buffers (streamside forests that are buffered from logging in order to protect salmon and other aquatic species habitat) for all 4 alternatives. The top "no action" is the Northwest Forest Plan. All 3 action alternatives propose to dramatically shrink the buffers. The BLM's preferred alternative (#2) proposes to reduce these buffers by approximately half.  DEIS page 728.