Lands could reopen to logging

Oregonian ^ | Sunday, November 06, 2005 | MICHAEL MILSTEIN

[DuckFan4ever]

A deal between the Bush administration and the timber industry could lift protections for millions of Oregon acres

A deal between the Bush administration and timber industry probably will restart chain saws across millions of acres of Western Oregon in the next few years, including reserves set aside for the northern spotted owl and other wildlife.

It will mark perhaps the single largest and most striking shift in public land management in the Northwest since the Clinton administration's 1994 Northwest Forest Plan created those reserves in the first place.

Conservationists fear it will begin the permanent unraveling of those reserves, a key piece of the strategy to sustain the spotted owl, marbled murrelet and salmon.

snip

The BLM sold up to 1.6 billion board feet of timber a year -- enough to fill more than 300,000 log trucks. Half the revenue goes to the county where the timber is sold, while the other half is split between the federal treasury and the BLM.

[DuckFan4ever]

Good news for red Oregon, which is most of the state outside the coffee bars of Portland.

[edchambers]

Oh my God, you mean people might actually be able find work in Oregon again?

[calex59]

and in the process putting thousands of people out of work. This is good news. Go Bush.

[calex59]

It will mark perhaps the single largest and most striking shift in public land management in the Northwest since the Clinton administration's 1994 Northwest Forest Plan created those reserves in the first place.

This is what I meant to post in the last one. Clinton screwed thousands of people out of work.

[cyn]

bump

[cyn]

testing (Critter-call!). I hope you're all well. It was good to meet you all. Here's hoping this is the start of something good after all the bad years.

[hermgem]

Clinton screwed these people out of full time jobs to harvest and process lumber.
He gave it back with part time firefighting jobs and feeding a MSN summer lull while showing all those blazes.
He then blamed it on global warming caused by too much pollution and these SUV's.
A self serving but nevertheless destructive Dem cycle.
Bush has the guts to stand up and take Harry Reid's blows for the good of jobs of the regular guy and to cut down on firefighting.

[SJSAMPLE]

Conservationists fear it will begin the permanent unraveling of those reserves, a key piece of the strategy to sustain the spotted owl, marbled murrelet and salmon.

Now the MSM is calling them "conservationists".
Conservationists believe in "conserving" resources through wise use and limited waste.

These people are "environmentalists" of the first order. No use of these resources, whatsoever.

[USS Alaska]

Some one should tell the envirowhackos that trees will re-grow. You know, like it's a miracle man.

[tubebender]

Chain Saw Ping...

[FOG724]

cool thanks for the ping.

[SierraWasp]

"Chain Saw Ping..."

Ring, Ding, Ding, Ding... AWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWAAAAAAAAAAAA... (crack!) Timmmmmmmmmmmmber!!! CARUNCH!!!

Ring, Ding, Ding, Ding... Putt...

Ok, you and the foggy one cleaner up, will ya tubularbender???

Ahhhhh... I love the smell of two-stroke burnin in the mornin!!!

[SierraWasp]

"Bush has the guts to stand up and take Harry Reid's blows"

Yes... He sure blows, alright!!! What a mentalcase midget!!!

[Carry_Okie]

Yawn. Another lawsuit will likely bring this to a screeching halt.

[editor-surveyor]

"Good news for red Oregon, which is most of the state outside the coffee bars of Portland."

Aren't you forgetting a few places like Eugene and Springfield? And all the looney toonies along the Mckenzie river?

[editor-surveyor]

Thanks for the ping! I went out to the shed and fired up my chainsaw for a salute (8:00PM sunday!)

[princess leah]

"GOT WOOD"!!!

[tubebender]

You should have coordinated that with the rest of us Arm Chair Loggers. Imagine 300,000 FReeper chainsaws all starting at 8:PM PST...

[forester]

From the article:

The sea change will come through a new federal blueprint for management of 2.5 million acres of Western Oregon, much of it lush forest in a checkerboard pattern between Interstate 5 and the ocean. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has begun asking for public input as it drafts the new plan for release in 2008.

But the revision itself was a key part of a 2003 legal settlement between the timber industry and Bush administration. A clause in the deal hints at how sharply things may change. It directs BLM to abide by a 1990 court ruling that said timber production should be the "dominant use" of the lands -- and a higher priority than wildlife habitat and old-growth forest.

Looks like this is about the O&C lands that BLM manages in SW Oregon. These were recovered from a bankrupt railroad at the turn of the last century and chartered to provide a steady stream of income to the county schools and roads. Does any one recall the lawsuit that spawned the exemption to the NW forest Plan?

My thoughts are that this planning exercise is futile and doomed to litigation, unless the court decision exempts the planning process from NEPA. The article is hype, honest reporting is dead.

[Carry_Okie]

Methinks we are in agreement.

See #14.