Deadline for timber plan extended

The comment period for the draft management plan for 2.2 million acres of Western Oregon BLM land is extended to December 10, 2007.

People interested in the 1,700-page draft environmental impact statement for managing 2.2 million acres of BLM forests in Western Oregon will have until Dec. 10 to comment on the plan.

The agency extended the deadline after being contacted by many people who said they needed more time to consider the impacts, BLM spokesman Michael Campbell said.

"We have heard from a number of county commissioners, from Sen. (Ron) Wyden, and from conservation groups - all requesting a comment period extension. Coupled with the fact that it's a huge document, we decided it's the best thing to do," Campbell said.

The BLM also has scheduled several open houses at its district offices to describe the proposal and answer questions about it. And BLM staff members are meeting with groups who have requested more information, Campbell said.

The BLM lands form a checkerboard pattern in Western Oregon, interspersed among privately owned land.

Logging on those forests dropped significantly in 1994 when the Northwest Forest Plan set limits in a regionwide effort to preserve the oldest trees for threatened species.

But since 1937, 50 percent of the revenue from logging on BLM's Oregon forests has gone to the counties where the forests were located. While federal subsidies have made up for the loss of the logging income, Congress has moved to cut the money and efforts to continue it are uncertain.

The BLM has set up an interactive Web site that allows people to read the plan, see maps that will show where the oldest trees can be found and whether proposed changes will mean logging on specific parcels. Internet visitors can pinpoint their concern about specific areas, indicate how they use the BLM lands and make general comments.

The BLM has specifically requested comments that address its analysis, potential flaws or missing information and asks people to refer to relevant sections of the environmental impact statement when com- menting.

Some people without technical backgrounds have expressed concern that the BLM may not be interested in their comments, but that isn't the case, Campbell said.

"We certainly don't expect the public to have a master's degree in biology, but we do expect and appreciate when the public has had a chance to go through and look at the document. ... I think we're interested in all the ramifications the planning effort entails from a visual standpoint, environmental, economic, the whole range of issues," Campbell said.

BLM INVITES PUBLIC COMMENT
People can express their views on the draft of a plan to increase logging in Western Oregon through Dec. 10.
Online: at www.blm.gov/ or/plans/wopr
Via mail at: Western Oregon Plan Revisions, P.O. Box 2965, Portland, OR 97208
More information: A technical briefing on the plan will be held at the BLM Eugene district office, 2890 Chad Drive, on Oct. 18 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.