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Draft document highlights Forest Plan changes By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Logging and restoration projects alike could proceed under changes to the Northwest Forest Plan proposed by federal officials. On Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management released a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement for public review and comment. The document details the federal agencies' proposal to alter the Aquatic Conservation Strategy (ACS), a key component of the Northwest Forest Plan. In response to environmental lawsuits, courts have ruled the ACS requires that individual projects must maintain or improve conditions in riparian areas, on both a short- and long-term basis. But federal officials argued ACS language has been misinterpreted. Instead, individual projects should be allowed to move forward even if they cause damage as long as the watershed as a whole is not harmed in the long-term, officials said. "The Aquatic Conservation Strategy objectives were never intended to be met at the project level," said Rex Holloway, media relations officer for the U.S. Forest Service Pacific Northwest Region Office in Portland. "They were meant to be attained at the watershed level over a period of time. We do anticipate this will free up watershed restoration projects and timber sales." Under a strict interpretation of the current ACS, removing culverts and decommissioning roads to restore watersheds would not be allowed because such projects would cause temporary sedimentation in waterways, he said. Altering the ACS language could allow more timber sales, according to Holloway. He said due to the ACS language, timber sales representing about 300 million board feet of wood have been blocked in western Oregon, western Washington and northwest California, the area covered by the Northwest Forest Plan. For a variety of reasons, including the ACS, the BLM and Forest Service have fallen short of timber sales levels predicted under the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan is meant to protect old growth forests and sensitive species, while allowing for a sustainable harvest to economically benefit communities. "The other side of the plan is meeting the socioeconomic aspects," said Brenda Lincoln, public affairs specialist for the BLM state office. "As part of the compromise of the Northwest Forest Plan, we would also help communities with the production of timber and other forest products. We have not been able to fulfill that commitment." The BLM and Forest Service offered 299 million board feet of timber in 2001 and 400 million board feet in 2002, although the Northwest Forest Plan Probable Sales Quantity is 805 million board feet each year, according to Holloway. Locally, the Medford District BLM offered 1.3 million board feet in 2001 and 83.1 million board feet in 2002, while the Northwest Forest Plan level is 57 million board feet for the district annually, according to BLM figures. The Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests offered 4.8 million board feet in 2001 and 20.9 million board feet last year, with a combined Northwest Forest Plan level set at 50 million board feet annually, Forest Service figures show. Local BLM and Forest Service staff contacted Wednesday said it was too early to tell how the proposed changes to the ACS could affect timber programs and restoration projects here. But members of the Ashland and Williams-based Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center said weakening the ACS could jeopardize water quality and salmon habitat. Numerous damaging projects would have cumulative impacts, they said. "I fear we're going to see these projects dotting the landscape with the potential to really damage our watersheds," said Joseph Vaile, campaign coordinator for the environmental group. "It's turning the clock back to the '80s when we had unabated logging." Instead of trying to change the law, the federal agencies should design timber sales to comply with existing environmental safeguards, members said, pointing to the Rogue River National Forest's Cat Hill Thin and the Siskiyou National Forest's Skinny Doe timber sale as positive examples. But Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, said easing the ACS requirements would allow agencies to better protect riparian areas and surrounding forests. "As we saw with the fires last summer, if you're able to thin timber stands and reduce fuel loading but you're stopped at the aquatic boundary, the uplands may receive some damage from the fire," Hill said. "You want to protect the aquatic zones if at all possible. Fire burns hotter next to streams. That's the area with the greatest need for protection. You ought to have an opportunity to manage it - even if there's a temporary disturbance - if there is a long-term gain," he said. Additional information and the Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact can be found on the Internet at reo.gov/acs/. Comments must be postmarked by July 10 and can be mailed to ACS EIS, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122-1090. Comments can be faxed to 801-517-1014 or e-mailed to [email protected]. A final Environmental Impact Statement is expected out in August, with a decision issued in September. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. 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