Logging boost riles hunter, anglers

Outdoor groups challenge BLM plan to increase clear-cutting in western Oregon.

Several organization representing hunters and anglers in Oregon are concerned about the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed changes to the management of thousands of acres of wilderness in western Oregon.

The BLM’s proposed changes would reduce or eliminate areas set aside for the Northern spotted owl and marbled murrelets. They also would change the quotas for the retention of green trees and snags, adjust the harvest of downed wood and greatly reduce the vegetation buffer next to streams. The plan also would increase the acreage available for use by all-terrain vehicles.

The proposal would impact 83,000 acres of land in Linn County and 51,000 acres in Benton County, along with many more acres in southern Oregon.

The BLM is considering four alternatives. Three would make changes to the plan; one would not.

Michael Campbell, a public affairs officer with the BLM, said there has not been a revision to the management plan since 1995, and it is time that these practices were reevaluated. The BLM also is acting because the agency has no choice. The government agreed to a review of its management plans as part of a court settlement with the counties that receive payments from the forest receipts on these lands.

The BLM is under pressure to increase these receipts. Over the past several years, the federal government has made payments to these counties not tied to actual receipts. It appears these payments are coming to an end, and the amount received by counties based on actual harvests in these areas would be much smaller.

Campbell said that under the current plan, more than 200 million board feet are supposed to be logged each year, although the actual harvest amount is much less, about 134 million board feet.

Under the BLM’s proposed alternative, the harvest would increase to about 727 million board feet. This production level result in payments to counties at about 90 percent of the amount they now receive.

Other alternatives would increase the harvest to 456 and 471 million board feet, respectively.

Even under the no-change alternative, logging will be increased, Campbell said, to about 268 million board feet.

Mike Beagle of Trout Unlimited says his organization isn’t happy with any of the proposed alternatives and hopes that the BLM will reconsider. Wildlife organizations don’t believe that any of the proposed alternatives provide adequate protection for streams or for Oregon’s wildlife.

The groups are especially concerned about the proposed changes in stream buffers.

“We’re not saying that 300 feet is a cookie-cutter for every stream, but 25 feet is pretty drastic,” Beagle said. “They believe they can do the same kinds of things with fish restoration without the stream buffers. We don’t think they have the science behind them to demonstrate that.”

Beagle is hoping that people will review the plan and then contact the BLM to express their concerns.

“Hopefully they’ll come up with a little bit better range of alternatives,” Beagle said.

Campbell said the BLM stands by its research. He said these proposals are based on the most comprehensive study of Oregon’s BLM land ever conducted and represent the needs of streams and wildlife much more accurately than the studies in the mid-1990s.

After the public comment period closes the BLM will review the comments, make final changes and then prepare the document for final approval later this year.