August 19, 2009
On July 17 of this year, the Obama administration announced a decision to cancel a Bush-era plan that would have nearly quadrupled logging on public lands in western Oregon. The Bush plan, called the Western Oregon Plan Revision, or WOPR, re-zoned 2.6 million acres of federal public forests in Oregon managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The announcement came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (KS Wild) and twelve other conservation organizations challenging the Bush-era logging plan. Obama officials said the Bush plan ignored requirements to protect endangered species living in the forests and could not be defended in court.
The announcement aligns the Obama administration squarely with the wishes of the public, which opposed the Bush clearcutting plan by over 90 percent. The decision to cancel the Oregon timber giveaway also conforms with numerous scientific studies concluding that dramatic increases in logging would have harmed clean water and healthy streams, pushed wildlife toward extinction, and contributed to global warming. The plan to clearcut 500 million board feet of timber per year would also have destroyed much of Oregon's remaining old-growth forest ecosystem.
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Rather than stepping back to a time of old-growth clearcuts under WOPR, KS Wild is urging the Obama administration to implement a forward-thinking approach that recognizes the role these forests play in diminishing the effects of climate change by storing thousands of tons of carbon in old-growth trees. Oregon forests produce clean drinking water and clean air for thousands of Oregonians, as well as create high-skilled jobs in forest restoration. Thinning forestland can produce timber by getting small diameter trees to the mills while still restoring habitat.
Intact old-growth forests with clean healthy streams are an economic engine that drive prosperity in the Pacific Northwest, and it is encouraging that the Obama Administration recognizes the amazing values our ancient forests provide other than timber extraction. The Obama administration's move signals a return to scientific management of our public forests and marks an important step towards protecting Oregon's remaining mature and old-growth forests from unsustainable logging and roadbuilding. These last wild forests protect the climate, produce clean water, and sustain world class salmon runs and recreational opportunities that contribute to Oregon's diverse economy.
Southwest Oregon has much of the lands that were to be clearcut under the WOPR. KS Wild is pleased that level heads have prevailed, and our old-growth will be protected. KS Wild thanks Kristen Boyles at Earthjustice for her stellar legal work on the lawsuit against WOPR. KS Wild continues our work as a feisty and seasoned organization working to protect and restore the ecosystems of the Klamath-Siskiyou region of northwest California and southwest Oregon.
For more information: www.kswild.org
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TOC for Forest & River News, Summer 2009