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http://www.omniture.com --> Sections Home Page Local News AP News Archives Business Classifieds Event Calendar Forums Life Opinion Obituaries Photo Gallery Readers Photo Gallery Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Distinctly Northwest Readers' Choice Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Holiday Guide Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Other Publications Local Links Ashland News eSouthernOregon Newspapers In Education Personals Moving Here Movie Listings TV Listings Volunteer Customer Service Advertise With Us Media Kit Place Classified Ad Contact Us FAQ's Home Delivery Site Map --> Email Story to a Friend December 4, 2006 Ruling on BLM logging 'bittersweet' By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune For George Sexton, the good news is that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco determined Monday that the Mr. Wilson timber sale was illegal. The bad news? In fall 2005, a logging firm contracted by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management completed logging the 203-acre site of 6.4 million board feet of largely old-growth trees in the Medford District's Glendale Resource Area. Sexton is the conservation director of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, one of four environmental groups that took the BLM to court in 2002 in an attempt to stop the sale, charging the agency with an insufficient environmental analysis. U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene denied the request for an injunction early last year. "Turns out we were right — the BLM was cutting illegally," Sexton said Monday. "Unfortunately, they can't put the giant trees back up. "It is a bittersweet victory for us," he added. "We've been saying for three years that this logging was illegal. But the BLM would not slow down and wait for the appeals court to make the determination. It's a painful win." Advertisement The timber sale gained notoriety after environmental activists cut a 6-foot-diameter slice from a stump of a 440-year-old Douglas fir known as the "Shakespeare tree" because it took seed roughly the same time Shakespeare was reputedly born, around 1564. The slice was placed in a utility trailer and pulled across the nation, eventually being exhibited at the U.S. Capitol as an example of old-growth logging. In their court case, the plaintiffs argued that the agency did not adequately consider the cumulative impact of the sale in conjunction with past, present and reasonably foreseeable projects on timber harvest sales in the area or the potential impact on northern spotted owl habitat. In addition to the Klamath-Siskiyou center in Ashland, others joining in the lawsuit claiming the timber sale in the west fork of the Cow Creek drainage violated the National Environmental Policy Act were the former Headwaters Coalition, Oregon Wild and Umpqua Watersheds. The drainage supports runs of coho and chinook salmon, as well as cutthroat and steelhead trout. In its initial environmental assessment of the timber sale, the BLM had issued a finding of no significant impact. The unit was sold to Herbert Lumber Co. of Riddle for $1.9 million, well above the appraised value of $1.57 million. In the majority opinion, the appeals court reversed Hogan's summary judgment and halted any additional work on the unit until the BLM "provides a revised environmental assessment, including the required hard look at cumulative impacts of the logging already completed." That revised assessment also must include the likely environmental impact of that sale and future sales in the area, the court ruled. However, a judge in dissent concluded the case was moot because the unit already had been logged. Messages left at BLM offices in Medford and Grants Pass asking for comment by the Mail Tribune Monday afternoon were not returned. Meanwhile, while Sexton acknowledges the legal victory is too late for stopping logging of the Mr. Wilson sale, he wants it to catch the agency's attention when it comes to similar sales. "Our hope is it will cause them to reflect on their penchant for logging old growth at any cost," he said. "This doesn't mean logging should be a thing of the past, but that old-growth logging should be." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] . Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Men's Clothing Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Discount Hotel Reservations Send Flowers Casinos Canada Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Trunks, Footlocker Online poker at AbsolutePoker.com