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http://www.oregonlive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1213932332307280.xml&coll=7&thispage=2
Wyden's logging plan could please environmentalists, industry
The Senator's proposal for Oregon would protect old-growth stands while allowing sustainable cutting
Friday, June 20, 2008
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian
With millions of acres of overgrown Oregon forests at desperate risk of wildfires, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Thursday advanced an outline of legislation aimed at permanently protecting old-growth trees while also promoting sustainable logging.
That combination has long been an elusive Holy Grail of public-land forestry in the Northwest. Intense old-growth logging through the 1980s led to a public and legal backlash that brought cutting to a near-standstill. Logging levels remain depressed, with projects often stymied by lawsuits. Many sawmills that depend on federal timber have shut down and others are on the brink.
Without sawmills it becomes increasingly difficult to thin overgrown and flammable forests, even when environmental groups often opposed to logging agree something needs to be done.
Wyden's proposal calls on local collaborative groups to design forest projects that include logging, with a goal of reducing wildfire risk and breaking up dense tree plantations. If they meet certain standards, the projects would be exempt from environmental reviews and appeals that often delay forest work.
Although the strategy is not yet in the form of a bill, it has support from two top forest scientists and tentative interest from environmental groups and the timber industry. But Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., who has also proposed legislation breaking the forest gridlock, warned that it's easier said than done.
Even bills that seem to have broad public support can be scuttled by extreme views from either the logging or environmental community, especially in Oregon, DeFazio said Thursday.
"We have the most entrenched and polarized environmental and industry groups in Oregon," DeFazio said. "I'm happy to have Ron join me in the arena here. I get tired of ducking all the bricks, and now half of them will be aimed at him."
Although Wyden's proposal is unlikely to make it through Congress in a busy election year, he described it in the Senate Thursday as laying groundwork for a new approach to Oregon forests when a new president takes office. His proposal applies only to Oregon, but his staff said it could be expanded to include other states too.
Key elements of Wyden's plan:
No logging of trees older than 120 years in damp forests common to the west side of the Cascade Range, and no cutting of trees more than 150 years old in drier eastside forests. Also, no clear-cutting.
Federal land agencies would be directed to work on projects that restore forest health, reduce fire risk, protect sensitive lands and promote sustainable logging across large areas of landscape.
Each national forest and U.S. Bureau of Land Management district must develop a large scale forest restoration project up to 25,000 acres using a local collaborative group.
Independent federal observers would monitor logging to be sure no old-growth trees are cut, and any areas violating the rules would lose their authority for such projects.
Tax credits would be available for environmentally sensitive logging equipment and sawmills designed to cut smaller-diameter trees common in overgrown forests and plantations.
Federal forest managers have already shifted away from controversial old-growth logging and clear-cutting, finding that they get more done when focused on less-contentious thinning projects. The trouble is that those often do not bring in as much revenue because the trees are smaller and contain less wood.
But Norm Johnson, a professor of forest resources at Oregon State University, said Wyden's strategy could create a much larger stream of timber than has come off federal lands in recent years.
University of Washington professor Jerry Franklin said Northwest forests are facing serious danger as global warming accelerates wildfires and global competition undercuts the region's timber industry. He said vulnerable forests, especially drier forests, will lose old-growth trees and all if they burn up.
Tom Partin of the American Forest Resources Council, an industry group in Portland, said the timber industry would work with Wyden.
"There comes a time when the forest needs some help, the climate needs some help, the industry needs some help," he said. "We want to be at the table."
Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@ news.oregonian.com
©2008 The Oregonian
Wyden's logging plan could please environmentalists, industry
The Senator's proposal for Oregon would protect old-growth stands while allowing sustainable cutting
Friday, June 20, 2008
MICHAEL MILSTEIN
The Oregonian
With millions of acres of overgrown Oregon forests at desperate risk of wildfires, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., Thursday advanced an outline of legislation aimed at permanently protecting old-growth trees while also promoting sustainable logging.
That combination has long been an elusive Holy Grail of public-land forestry in the Northwest. Intense old-growth logging through the 1980s led to a public and legal backlash that brought cutting to a near-standstill. Logging levels remain depressed, with projects often stymied by lawsuits. Many sawmills that depend on federal timber have shut down and others are on the brink.
Without sawmills it becomes increasingly difficult to thin overgrown and flammable forests, even when environmental groups often opposed to logging agree something needs to be done.
Wyden's proposal calls on local collaborative groups to design forest projects that include logging, with a goal of reducing wildfire risk and breaking up dense tree plantations. If they meet certain standards, the projects would be exempt from environmental reviews and appeals that often delay forest work.
Although the strategy is not yet in the form of a bill, it has support from two top forest scientists and tentative interest from environmental groups and the timber industry. But Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore., who has also proposed legislation breaking the forest gridlock, warned that it's easier said than done.
Even bills that seem to have broad public support can be scuttled by extreme views from either the logging or environmental community, especially in Oregon, DeFazio said Thursday.
"We have the most entrenched and polarized environmental and industry groups in Oregon," DeFazio said. "I'm happy to have Ron join me in the arena here. I get tired of ducking all the bricks, and now half of them will be aimed at him."
Although Wyden's proposal is unlikely to make it through Congress in a busy election year, he described it in the Senate Thursday as laying groundwork for a new approach to Oregon forests when a new president takes office. His proposal applies only to Oregon, but his staff said it could be expanded to include other states too.
Key elements of Wyden's plan:
No logging of trees older than 120 years in damp forests common to the west side of the Cascade Range, and no cutting of trees more than 150 years old in drier eastside forests. Also, no clear-cutting.
Federal land agencies would be directed to work on projects that restore forest health, reduce fire risk, protect sensitive lands and promote sustainable logging across large areas of landscape.
Each national forest and U.S. Bureau of Land Management district must develop a large scale forest restoration project up to 25,000 acres using a local collaborative group.
Independent federal observers would monitor logging to be sure no old-growth trees are cut, and any areas violating the rules would lose their authority for such projects.
Tax credits would be available for environmentally sensitive logging equipment and sawmills designed to cut smaller-diameter trees common in overgrown forests and plantations.
Federal forest managers have already shifted away from controversial old-growth logging and clear-cutting, finding that they get more done when focused on less-contentious thinning projects. The trouble is that those often do not bring in as much revenue because the trees are smaller and contain less wood.
But Norm Johnson, a professor of forest resources at Oregon State University, said Wyden's strategy could create a much larger stream of timber than has come off federal lands in recent years.
University of Washington professor Jerry Franklin said Northwest forests are facing serious danger as global warming accelerates wildfires and global competition undercuts the region's timber industry. He said vulnerable forests, especially drier forests, will lose old-growth trees and all if they burn up.
Tom Partin of the American Forest Resources Council, an industry group in Portland, said the timber industry would work with Wyden.
"There comes a time when the forest needs some help, the climate needs some help, the industry needs some help," he said. "We want to be at the table."
Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@ news.oregonian.com
©2008 The Oregonian
Thats on our list for next winter to cut out. 
It gets more and more complex every year. A lot of this has to do with politicians trying to "help" in the past. Just think what more they can do!
