EPA worries new forest management plan and spotted owl recovery strategy could harm Oregon rivers

Eugene Register-Guard
By Susan Palmer
October 17, 2007

Draft plans by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the U. S. Bureau of Land Management that could increase logging in federal forests in Western Oregon have drawn criticism from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which says the harvesting could harm rivers and imperil fish.

Two letters the EPA sent to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service say the proposals could roll back water quality improvements that Oregon watersheds have seen since the implementation of the federal Northwest Forest Plan 13 years ago. That plan set aside large reserves of public forests for the benefit of species at risk of extinction, such as the northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet and salmon.

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is in the process of revising its recovery plan for the northern spotted owl, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. A draft version of the recovery plan, which will be finalized in 2008, already has drawn stinging criticism in several scientific peer reviews for failing to use the best science in narrowing protected areas for the birds. And many Democrats have raised questions about political interference that pushed the plan's authors to emphasize threats to the spotted owl from the barred owl and de-emphasize the importance of old growth forests in the spotted owl's recovery.

The EPA criticism comes from a different angle, arguing that the logging would harm rivers and streams. The EPA is mandated to protect water quality and enforce the federal Clean Water Act.

The BLM has announced it is considering tripling logging on 2.2 million acres of Oregon forests under a new management strategy that would take the agency out from under the umbrella of the Northwest Forest Plan. The BLM has used the draft Fish & Wildlife owl recovery plan to help guide its decisions about where and how to increase logging.

In letters to Fish & Wildlife, sent in August, the EPA raises questions about the wisdom of reducing the late successional reserve network - the areas of old growth forest that spotted owls need to thrive.

In an Aug. 9 letter by Ann Norton Miller, director of the office of federal activities in the EPA's Washington, D.C., office, the EPA questions whether new designations of critical habitat for the spotted owl follow the standards of the Northwest Forest Plan, and asks Fish & Wildlife to better explain to the public the pros and cons of the options it is considering.

Another letter, sent on Aug. 29 by Michael Gearheard, director of the Office of Water and Watersheds in the EPA's Seattle office, worries that gains under the Northwest Forest Plan could be lost under Fish & Wildlife's proposed spotted owl recovery plan and BLM's proposed logging plan. Already, many Oregon rivers don't meet the water quality standards of the Clean Water Act, Gearheard wrote.

A recent survey of 250 watersheds in the Northwest Forest Plan area found that 57 percent were in better condition from 1998 through 2003 than they had been before the Northwest Forest Plan was implemented, said David Powers, the EPA's regional manager for forests and rangelands. Another 40 percent of the surveyed watersheds were in stable condition and in just 3 percent had conditions worsened, he said.

Several Lane County watersheds were included in that survey, such as the Upper Mc Kenzie, the Coast and Middle forks of the Willamette, Mosby Creek and Hills Creek, Powers said. The most significant improvements were found in areas that had been designated as late successional reserves for spotted owls, he said.

"We are deeply concerned that revisions proposed in the Draft Recovery Plan could delay or even reverse this positive trend," Gearheard wrote in the Aug. 29 letter. "That would be a big step backwards for water quality in Oregon."

The BLM Western Oregon Plan Revision is open for public comment, and the Eugene district plans an open house on Thursday to discuss its technical details in a daylong session.

Fish & Wildlife spokeswoman Joan Jewett said the agency had no specific comment on the EPA letters. During the public comment period on the draft recovery plan, the agency received about 80,000 comments, Jewett said.

"The whole purpose of having a public comment period is to accept comments from citizens, scientists and other agencies, and we will be considering all of those as we put together a final recovery plan," Jewett said.

A spokesman for the BLM said the agency was familiar with the Aug. 29 letter and wants more specific input from the EPA.

The BLM is guided by both the Northwest Forest Plan, which heavily restricts logging, and the federal 1937 O&C Lands Act, which encourages the agency to log to generate revenue. "The BLM doesn't have the luxury of following one set of guidelines," Campbell said. "We have to follow them all. ... While the Northwest Forest Plan has been effective at achieving better water quality standards and meeting standards under the Clean Water Act, the question is, can we find alternative ways to achieve water quality while meeting the requirements of the O&C Act."