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54 °F 5 Day Forecast Friday, November 28, 2003 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | eSouthernOregon | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend October 21, 2003 Biscuit timber cut drafted Forest Service’s preference would take 518 million board feet By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune The U.S. Forest Service wants to harvest more than 500 million board feet of timber killed by the massive Biscuit fire that swept through the Siskiyou National Forest last year. The agency’s preferred alternative in a forthcoming draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Biscuit Fire salvage calls for 518 million board feet to be logged, according to Judy McHugh, spokeswoman for the Biscuit Fire Recovery Project. If the preferred alternative is selected, it could provide enough material to build 25,900 moderate-sized three-bedroom, two-bath homes. Each of those homes would include about 20,000 board feet of lumber and panel products. The lightning-sparked fire burned about a half million acres in western Josephine and eastern Curry counties, making it the largest in the nation in 2002. Advertisement But McHugh, noting the preferred alternative is one of seven alternatives in the draft statement, stressed that a final decision won’t be made until after agency personnel have pored over the comments received in a 45-day comment period that begins after the document is released next month. "That decision could be any of the alternatives we already have or include an alternative brought up in the comment period," she said, noting that a final decision will not be made until early next year. Salvage operations could begin later that spring. The alternatives run the gamut from no salvage to cutting up to 2 billion board feet of burned timber. Once a final decision is made on how much burned timber can be cut, funding and industry demand will determine how much of it is actually harvested, she said. In addition to harvesting 518 million board feet, the preferred alternative includes treatment on about 29,000 acres, creating 309 miles of fuels management (safety) zones and prescribed burning on 91,000 acres. "This is just the draft — after we receive and analyze the substantive comments we receive, we will consider those comments before making the final decision," McHugh said. On learning of the preferred alternative, comments from the timber industry and the environmental community followed the grain of argument each had expressed since the Biscuit fire salvage debate began last fall. "That’s a good number," said Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association. "This is definitely an improvement," he added, referring to the 100-million-board-foot salvage harvest earlier touted by the Forest Service. "They are looking at a more aggressive approach. That’s good in the long run, for environmental, social and economic reasons." But he figures it will be at least next summer before any salvage will begin. Because of decay already beginning in the trees killed by the fire, only those 18 inches and larger in diameter will now be of interest to the industry, he said. "Only those larger-diameter trees will be valuable," he said. "And there will probably be a lawsuit over the DEIS, causing further delay and further decay." But Romain Cooper, conservation coordinator for the Siskiyou Regional Education Project in the Illinois Valley, says the preferred alternative would harvest far too much timber at a cost to the environment and taxpayers. While the industry believes the salvage would improve the health of the forest by reducing the fire danger, environmentalists say it would have the opposite effect. "This would be extreme, costing taxpayers millions and millions," Cooper said. "This will be a timber sale subsidized by taxpayers." Noting his group is not opposed to all salvage, he said salvaging more than half a billion board feet of timber would threaten the local environment. "This is an extreme proposal that would severely damage the Siskiyou’s biodiversity and rivers, cost taxpayers millions and polarize our communities," he said, noting it would be the largest timber sale in modern times. "This megasale is politically driven from Washington, D.C.," he concluded. "President Bush is bringing his ‘shock and awe’ to the Siskiyous." Logging should be concentrated on areas where rural communities are threatened by wildfire, added Dominick DellaSala, forest ecologist who directs the World Wildlife Fund’s Klamath-Siskiyou program. "They should be doing fuels reduction work closer to where people live in the interface," he said. "This would likely increase the fire risk because they will be taking out the big trees and leave the small ones. "Why would the agency want to produce that much salvage when it has such dubious ecological and economic benefits?" he asked, then answered, "It doesn’t make sense." Last week, a study released by ECONorthwest in Eugene concluded that massive salvage work in the area burned by the fire would cost taxpayers more than the revenue would justify. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times