FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Citizens Propose Plan to Protect Homes, Backcountry Forests in Central Cascades

New thinning proposal steers clear of roadless forests, avoids controversial logging

Conservation groups and concerned citizens propose alternate plan to the wide reaching and controversial D-Bug Timber Sale.

A forest in the Oregon Cascades Recreation Area slated for cutting under the current D-Bug timber sale proposal. (Photo by Francis Eatherington)

Aiming to head-off a dangerous and controversial logging plan north of Crater Lake National Park, conservationists and concerned citizens introduced an alternative proposal this weekend. The citizen’s alternative was unveiled at the annual meeting of the Oregon Forest Homeowners Association and calls on the Forest Service to focus management on activities that directly protect homes and human safety. The D-Bug timber sale sparked national controversy last year when the Forest Service proposed extensive logging in backcountry roadless areas.

“People across Oregon want to move forward with forest management we all can agree on,” said Rob Klavins with the conservation group Oregon Wild. “Protecting communities with careful thinning makes sense, but violating directives from the Obama administration and logging in federally recognized roadless and recreation areas is a recipe for controversy.”

The D-Bug planning area stretches from the northern border of Crater Lake National Park and encompasses areas surrounding Mount Bailey, Diamond Lake, and the popular Oregon Cascades Recreation Area. In all, the project calls for logging on approximately 10,000 acres.

The original proposal included logging in 990 acres of inventoried roadless areas protected by the 2001 Roadless Rule. In addition, over 3,000 acres of commercial logging and 14 miles of road building were slated in the roadless forests that form the proposed Crater Lake Wilderness.

The Umpqua National Forest says the logging project is necessary to prevent fire and the spread of bark beetles. The proposed citizen’s alternative aims to scale back the project to focus specifically on this stated intent and decouple it from its more controversial components. In a letter sent over the weekend to Umpqua National Forest Supervisor Clifford Dils, conservationists outlined 3,830 acres (mostly closer to communities and existing roads) in the proposal where careful thinning should move forward and an additional 2,300 acres where common ground could be found.  Unlike other National Forests in Oregon, the Umpqua National Forest does not currently have a fire plan. The Citizen’s proposal also urges Supervisor Dils to establish a sound fire plan as part of a comprehensive effort to protect homes and avoid future controversy. Recent studies have shown that logging in the backcountry may exacerbate beetle and fire threats.

“Beetles may make a great bogeyman, but more often than not it’s backcountry logging and roadbuilding that increases fire risk and drains resources from more pressing management closer to communities,” said Randi Spivak with the National Center for Conservation Science and Policy, an Ashland-based group that released a report last week titled Insects and Roadless Forests.

Planning for the D-Bug Timber Sale comes at an important time for roadless forests across the nation. Approximately 60 million acres of National Forest roadless areas, including nearly 2 million acres in Oregon, were first protected by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. One of the most popular conservation measures in history, the Roadless Rule was the product of rigorous scientific, economic, and environmental review and came out of the most extensive public process in the history of federal rulemaking.

For eight years Bush administration officials fought to repeal and undermine the Roadless Rule. A recent court ruling in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Bush administration policies and reinstated full Roadless Rule protections in Oregon and other states. In addition, President Obama’s top Forest Service official, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, has expressed continued commitment to uphold the Roadless Rule.

“From the beginning, the intent of the Roadless Rule has always been to protect our last undeveloped forests and allow reasonable approaches to health and safety issues,” added Klavins. “With this citizen’s proposal we hope we can find a similar balance for the D-Bug sale.”

The citizens groups supporting the alternative proposal includes Oregon Wild, Cascadia Wildlands, Environment Oregon, Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, Friends of the Elk River, Lower Columbia River Canoe Club, The Mountaineers, Oregon Council of Trout Unlimited, Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, Umpqua Watersheds, The Wilderness Society, and The Winter Wildlands Alliance.

Update March 23, 2010: Additional groups adding their support to the proposal include: American Canoe Association, American Hiking Society, American Whitewater, and the Mazamas.

See the full citizen’s alternative, cover letter, and map sent to the Umpqua National Forest.

View the Insects and Roadless Forests report.

Update March 26, 2010: After seeing the Forest Service's "Working Alternative Proposal" the Citizen's Alternative has been updated.  Click here for the current map and comments.

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