Oregon Wild Challenges D-Bug Logging Project on Umqua NF
Insistence on commercial logging in roadless area threatens to derail project designed to protect homes and property
Conservation group Oregon Wild is challenging a Forest Service timber sale on the Umpqua National Forest. They object to a commercial logging project in a roadless area near Crater Lake.
The D-Bug project is aimed at reducing wildfire risks to vacation homes and recreation areas. It includes a commercial timber sale in a roadless area. Rob Klavins with Oregon Wild says while thinning near cabins and campgrounds makes sense, cutting down old growth trees does not.
Klavins: "The wildlands around Crater Lake National Park: Diamond Lake, Lemolo Lake, Mount Thielsen-- they're really the crown jewels of Oregon. And they should be valued more their scenic value, recreation value, wilderness character than they are for their value as saw logs."
Klavins says Oregon Wild appreciates that D-Bug was scaled back after public comments, but they'd like the Forest Service to drop its proposal to log in roadless areas. The agency has released its final Environmental Impact Statement on D-Bug. Oregon Wild's administrative challenge comes during the last opportunity for the public to make objections to the proposal.
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Click here to learn more about DBug, watch a short video, and see pictures of the project area.
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