Limits on Logging Are Reinstated

New York Times ^ | July 16, 2009 | Felicity Barringer

[reaganaut1]

In a move to protect endangered species, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Thursday that his department had reversed a Bush administration decision to double the amount of logging allowed in and around old-growth forests in western Oregon.

Veering between swipes at “indefensible” moves by the Bush administration and pledges to step up noncontroversial timber sales, Mr. Salazar said in a conference call with reporters that he was reinstating a compromise reached 15 years ago to limit logging with the goal of protecting watersheds, trout and salmon fisheries and endangered birds like the northern spotted owl.

“Today we are taking action to reform the Department of Interior and correct mistakes by correcting legal shortcuts the late administration made at the end of its tenure,” Mr. Salazar said.

The Bush policy, challenged in the courts by environmentalists, would have allowed timber companies to cut up to 502 million board-feet of lumber annually from 2.6 million acres of forests in the region, or about double the amount allowed under the Northwest Forest Plan, which was adopted in 1994 under President Bill Clinton.

...

Still, Mr. Salazar’s decision to reverse that policy during a severe recession was fraught: at 12.1 percent, the unemployment rate in Oregon is among the highest in the country. In Douglas County, where the forestlands involved are located, the unemployment rate is 16.9 percent, in large part because of closings of sawmills and the loss of timber jobs.

Tom Partin, president of the American Forest Resource Council, expressed frustration with the reversal. “Oregon is facing double-digit unemployment,” he said in a statement. Opening up logging under the Bush administration’s plan “would have given our timber-dependent communities a real boost.”

[reaganaut1]

Instead of borrowing and taxing more to create more government jobs, why not get the heck out of the way and let businesses create more? Because Obama thinks of business as the enemy.

I hope Oregonians like what they voted for.

[muawiyah]

The ambition to protect endangered species is commendable, but it's useless. Once Cap and Tax is imposed, the people int his country will clear-cut the existing forest lands in 2 years or less just collecting firewood to burn in their fireplaces to keep warm in winter.

I've got my eyes on the prime timber growing in my Congresscritter's lawn, and there's a couple of others from out of state not far away and they got some fine trees ~ TO BURN!

Next, Tibetan style homes where we keep the cows in the first floor to keep us warm on the second floor.

[Vince Ferrer]

Obama, this you own.

[piytar]

Yup, Oregon went 53-39 for zero.

Enjoy your unemployment lines and crumbling economy, ya bunch of obamabots...

[SiVisPacemParaBellum]

"I hope Oregonians like what they voted for."

B.S. I didn't vote for it. Let me rephrase that for you...

I hope Oregonians the Portland/Eugene Kalifornian liberals like what they voted for.

And you can bet they do. Push us right to the top of the list of state rankings of unemployed, it doesn't matter to the tree hugging leftist moon bats in the big cities.

[ridesthemiles]

Yup, Oregon went 53-39 for zero.

Enjoy your unemployment lines and crumbling economy, ya bunch of obamabots...’

I predict that Oregon’s firefighters will be very busy this season and for many years to come.
Perfectly good lumber is being left to rot and to become fuel for fires.

[crazyhorse691]

Push us right to the top of the list of state rankings of unemployed, it doesn’t matter to the tree hugging leftist moon bats in the big cities.

---

I believe that Portland ranks #2 in unemployment nationwide for big cities...it is ironic that the upper class homes “suddenly” up for sale were the ones that had multiple Obama signs up just 8 months ago...of course, the soon-to-be exhomeowners that I have talked with see no correlation.

[kamikaze2000]

Yes Oregon does have it’s fair share of hopeless Obamabots, but it’s not a total lost cause. Portland has been overwhelmed with Califorinacators, Hippies, and artsy snob wannabees.

Like many blue states, one big city bullies the rest of us. A big part of the blame lies with the Republican organization in the state, which is completely hopeless and ineffective.

My congressional district is about evenly split Republican / Democrat, and we hand no Republican on the ballot for House Representative. Pathetic. Truly the stupid party.

[truthguy]

Ken Salazar is just another buffoon among many in the Obama administration. He's not any kind of an expert on the environment. His background is poly sci in college and then law school- didn't you just know it.

People like Salazar are responsible for the burning of millions of acres and killing millions of animals by preventing the logging of our national forests. Done properly (job of the forest service) logging is actually good for the environment and the forests. Logging is especially relevant in the West where 100 years or more of fire suppression has led to a situation where our forests are overgrown to the max and an extreme fire hazzard. When a fire does break out, it's not a natural fire. There is so much fuel that the forests burn everything rather than just burning across the forest floor with low intensity.

Salazar is the perfect type of idiot who doesn't understand this and is responsible for the damage. The Sierra Club is even worse.

[texas booster]

While the true believers live in Eugene, most of the 0bama voters have government or university jobs, so their pay is protected by your taxes.

[piytar]

Run. This isn’t a joke. What’s the worst you could do? Lose? And if zero and the donks keep jumping the shark, you might win thanks to the backlash.

[piytar]

VERY good post!

[libertarian27]

Well, this is interesting, there’s an ‘up to’ $1,500 tax rebate for those who buy pellet stoves this year and next [part of one of the stimulus bills] and there will be less trees to utilize for the pellets....Interesting.