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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 3, 2005 Walden introduces logging bill By Robert Plain Ashland Daily Tidings Greg Walden, Ashland’s elected voice in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a bill to Congress today that would expedite salvage logging projects on federal land affected by wildfire and other natural disasters. Walden was on the House floor this morning and could not be reached for comment, but a prepared statement sent from his office said the measure is modeled after the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, which provides expedited procedures to protect communities from wildfires. “Today in America’s forests, it can take three years for the federal government to cut a burned, dead tree after a fire,” he said in the statement. “And by the time the decision is finally made, the trees have often rotted, become bug infested or lost most of their value.” His press secretary, Angela Wilhelms, said the bill is more than just a mechanism for getting timber out of the forest before it loses economic value. “It’s both economical and environmental,” she said. “It’s definitely not a one-sided thing.” However, the environmental community in Southern Oregon strongly disagrees with this assessment. Still reeling from the three mistakes made by the U.S. Forest Service on the Biscuit Fire Salvage Recovery project, local environmentalists feel Walden’s bill would exacerbate a situation already rife with problems. “This is big,” Joseph Valie, of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, said. “Anytime there is a wind storm or a wildfire on federal land, this bill would sweep aside environmental protections for fish, wildlife and clean water to rush through logging projects. Who would this benefit? Only the timber industry.” Dominick DellaSala, a forest ecologist with the World Wildlife Fund, said that salvage logging is neither beneficial to the ecosystem or to fire prevention, a claim that Wilhelms said other experts have countered. He said forests that are not logged after a fire have tended to recover quicker than those that have been logged. “This is because of the shading effect of dead trees, and the logging impacts of removing dead trees that often include dragging them up steep hills where they kill conifer establishment.” Wilhelms said there are still provisions that would allow citizens to object to these type of projects. “The planning process is ongoing,” she said. “If people say in this particular forest it isn’t going to be the best thing to do, that will be taken into consideration.” Vaile said Walden is hiding the true intent of this bill by parsing it as a measure to help the environment. “He should come clean with the American people,” Vaile said. “If he wants to increase logging on federal land, he should call it what it is.” Staff writer Robert Plain can be reached at 482-3456 x 3040 or [email protected]. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams