1. Tell BLM to protect all the mature and old growth forests that remain, and to focus on thinning the plantations we already have. The thousands of acres of needed thinning will help old clearcuts recover, while providing jobs and logs to the mills. The size of trees from plantations is the most desirable size now for most mills.

2. Over 75% of western Oregon forests have already been clearcut. We can get the wood products we need from these plantations and leave the unlogged public forests for recreation and wildlife.

3. Owls, salmon, murrelets and other species depend on the BLM to protect their habitat. There is nowhere else they can live. God created the diversity of these forests. The BLM  has a duty to protect it.

4. Under the new proposal, BLM no longer has to help endangered species to recover, they only have to avoid killing them off entirely. This is called "avoiding jeopardy".  Tell the BLM that owls, murrelets and salmon should not be reduced to struggling in the category, "avoiding jeopardy," an inch above extinction. We have a duty to protect the animals we share our home with.

5. If you or someone you know lives near BLM forestland, tell the BLM why that land is important to you. Ask them not to clearcut the trees.

6. Oregon has successfully diversified away from timber as the primary industry, so our public forests should be used to serve a diversity of needs. The BLM should leave the unlogged public lands for the rest of us and for the animals and plants that need homes too.

7. Property values in western Oregon are diminished by logging the surrounding beautiful forests, or by subjecting a property's water source to logging, herbicides, or ammonia-based fertilizers.

8. The BLM lands are intermixed with private lands, so many people use these lands for recreation. It's not fun to recreate in a tree farm or a clearcut.

9. Protect western Oregon BLM lands for animals and fish, recreation and clean water. BLM is intermixed with industrial private lands that cannot be used to protect public resources, only public lands can do that.

10. The Northwest Forest Plan is an integrated plan that includes both BLM lands and National Forest lands. The BLM cannot withdraw from this plan and eliminate protection for old-growth forests, without undermining the whole thing. Taking BLM out of the Northwest Forest Plan would be like pulling a thread that unravels the whole blanket.

11. Why are these federally owned forest lands managed by the BLM? The government should consider transferring management of these forest lands to the Forest Service, so they can remain an integral part of the integrated Northwest Forest Plan.

12. BLM lands play an integral role in conserving fish & wildlife habitat, including imperiled species like pacific salmon, spotted owls, and marbled murrelets. Two of the important roles of BLM lands is (1) to provide some old growth refuge within a landscape dominated by private land clearcuts, and (2) to provide connectivity/dispersal habitat that connects larger blocks of habitat on National Forest lands. Scientists concluded 12 years ago that endangered wildlife cannot be protected without adequate safeguards for old growth forests on BLM lands.

13. BLM lands protect water quality for salmon, trout and for communities' drinking water. Diminished protection on these lands will affect the drinking water quality for the citizens of Salem, Albany, Corvallis, Eugene, and Roseburg, among others. Many rural residents rely on springs that originate on BLM lands. If these watersheds are not protected, their water supplies could be polluted or interrupted.

14. The BLM should emphasize forest restoration as the best way to ensure community stability. BLM can meet the social and economic objectives of the O&C Act by focusing their efforts on forest restoration, including thinning dense young tree farms that were established following clearcutting. This will help meet the restoration objectives of the Northwest Forest Plan, while also creating jobs and producing some woods projects.

15. Healthy forests support quality of life. Healthy, protected forests are one of the most important natural assets that Oregon's economy is based on. More logging on BLM lands diminish Oregon's quality of life and will reduce property values for those living near these lands.

16. BLM is reverting to a bygone era when timber was the dominant use of our public lands and everything else was secondary, including our drinking water, our air, our old-growth, and our fish & wildlife habitat.

17. BLM also intends to make it very hard for the public to be involved in future decisions to sell our public forests. They intend this planning effort to be the final step before logging so that future decisions to sell our forests don't have to go through any more public review and environmental analysis.