Some hunt, fish groups oppose WOPR

Several fishing and hunting groups in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest have come together to oppose a plan that would increase logging on Bureau of Land Management lands in Western Oregon

Several fishing and hunting groups in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest have come together to oppose a plan that would increase logging on Bureau of Land Management lands in Western Oregon, saying it will reduce buffers for fish-bearing streams and habitat for big-game wildlife.

The Western Oregon Plan Revisions proposed by the Bush administration could more than triple the harvest on 2.5 million acres of timberland in Western Oregon. The administration proposed the WOPR after settling a lawsuit in 2004 filed by the timber industry, which alleged that lands designated for timber production had been mismanaged.

The plan’s public commenting period ends Friday. The eight sportsman groups opposed to the plan include the Oregon Chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Northwest Sportfishing Industry Association, Northwest Steelheaders, Trout Unlimited, Oregon Division Izaak Walton League of America, Oregon Council Federation of Fly Fishers, Berkley Conservation Institute and Native Fish Society.

They say the plan is a threat to salmon, steelhead, trout, Roosevelt elk, blacktail deer and black bear.

The local fish-advocacy group, the Steamboaters, echoed the other sportsman groups’ opposition to the plan.

“We’re concerned that the BLM proposal is deleterious to fish runs,” said Peter Tronquet, past president and board member of the Steamboaters.

Bob Hall, spokesman for the BLM’s Roseburg district, said many different groups have publicly expressed support or opposition for the BLM plan. The comments they submit will be addressed when the agency works on finalizing the plan, he said.

The Northwest Forest Plan, drafted by the Clinton administration in 1994, was designed to protect threatened and at-risk species while providing a sustainable timber harvest. However, harvests on BLM lands under the Northwest Forest Plan have averaged 134 million board feet, short of the 205 million board feet allowed.

The shortfall has also squeezed the spending budgets of 18 Oregon counties reliant on 50 percent of BLM timber receipts. The counties have subsisted thus far on a federal timber safety net. Douglas County has the most BLM acreage of the 18 counties.

The BLM hopes to have the plan finalized by August. It is composed of three options that would ramp up logging to varying degrees, and a no-action option.

Douglas County Commissioner Doug Robertson has said that BLM lands in Western Oregon have a growth rate of 1.2 billion board feet per year, and Option 2 — which prescribes a cut of 727 million board feet per year — would easily be sustainable.

The hunting and fishing groups, however, say the plan would allow too much clear-cutting and harvest of mature, old-growth trees when thinning would be a better alternative.