Conservation Group Objects to DeFazio Forest Plan

Conservationists fear plan could lead to industrial forestry on up to one million acres of public land.

A conservation group is raising objections to a logging plan Oregon Democratic Congressman Peter DeFazio has been talking about.
 
DeFazio has not yet formally introduced his proposal, but he says it would divide Bureau of Land Management forests in Oregon and other Western States. A portion would be available for timber harvests, the other for conservation. The idea is to raise revenue for counties which have relied on federal timber payments, which expire at the end of this year. Sean Stevens with Oregon Wild explains what he objects to:
 
Stevens: "It's this concept that we can somehow take half of the BLM lands in Western Oregon, all of these forests, just cut them in half and make half of them completely exempt from federal environmental laws, like the endangered species act and the clean water act and just set them aside for industrial timber production. "
 
Stevens says, DeFazio has been a champion of the environment in the past, so he's surprised by what he's heard about the proposal. DeFazio's office has not yet announced when the Congressman will make his plan public.