Old-growth protection backed on eve of BLM deadline

October 21, 2005
By Paris Achen
MAIL TRIBUNE

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management could meet its timber quota in Western Oregon without logging old-growth forests key to protecting threatened and endangered species, according to a study released Wednesday by three conservation groups.

The study, led by the World Wildlife Fund in Ashland, is meant to provide evidence supporting a revision of the BLM’s management plan that would protect old-growth forests from Salem to Oregon. Corvallis-based Conservation Biology Institute and Portland-based Oregon Natural Resources Council helped conduct the study.

"This report documents the importance of BLM lands to Oregon’s natural heritage and shows the BLM can meet its volumes without logging old-growth forests," said author Dominick DellaSala, a forest ecologist with the World Wildlife Fund.

The BLM is revising its Western Oregon management plan in accordance with a 2003 legal settlement between the federal government and the Portland-based American Forest Resource Council.

The settlement requires the BLM to consider adopting a management plan that would eliminate forest reserves on Oregon and California Railroad grant lands, except those required to protect endangered species from extinction.

The lands were seized by the federal government after the railroad and the subsequent owner violated an agreement to restrict the property’s sale to homesteaders.

The BLM plan, set for completion in early 2008, will shape the way the agency manages forests, pastures, water, wildlife and logging for the next 10 to 15 years on 2.5 million acres of public lands west of the Cascade Range.

The revision is the first since the passage of the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994, which set aside protected reserves. Protected areas included late-successional reserves to provide habitat for old-growth species and riparian reserves meant to protect streams.

Today is the deadline for the public to submit comments to the agency about what they envision in the plan.

BLM officials said they plan to come up with several alternatives, including making no changes and minimizing reserves on Oregon and California Railroad lands. The alternatives are expected to be released at the beginning of next year.

Using BLM and U.S. Forest Service data, computer mapping and satellite imagery, the conservation groups’ study showed the BLM can produce more than 1.6 billion board feet of timber, enough for about 160,000 homes, without logging old-growth forests.

Old-growth forests are home to threatened northern spotted owls and marbled murrelets and other sensitive species. The timber there is also the most valuable.

BLM officials said they were impressed by the detail of the study and plan to consider it in their analysis.

But they warned that some of the report’s assumptions could prove problematic in developing a no-old-growth option.

For example, the authors interpret the Oregon and California Land Act differently than the courts, they said.

Also, the authors’ definition of old-growth forest is one aged 150 years and older, while the BLM’s benchmark is 180 years, they said.

Another concern is that restricting timber sales to tree plantations and thinning projects could be less appealing to timber companies than older stands, they said.

"We are not budgeted to put up timber sales to lose money," said R. Alan Hoffmeister, public involvement coordinator for the Western Oregon Plan Revisions Project.

The American Forest Resource Council said it would oppose a no-old-growth alternative.

Tom Partin, AFRC president, said all Oregon and California Railroad lands should be managed through thinning or logging to yield revenue for counties and reduce the risk of fire.

"Not being able to treat some acres is a huge impact on counties relying on dollars coming back to them," Partin said.

For more information

To view the Importance of Western Oregon BLM Lands and Reserves to Fish and Wildlife Conservation report, visit the Conservation Biology Institute’s Web site at www.consbio.org.

Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4496 or e-mail pachen@mailtribune.com.