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0 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? e-edition | subscribe | newsletter | deals Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » NEWS NOW Our View: Three elections that matter right now ... The Concord launches ... Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 20, 1915 ... Our View: Three elections that matter right now ... The Concord launches ... Mail Tribune 100: Oct. 20, 1915 ... OUR VIEW Our View: BLM caught in the middle over forest policy Comment MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 23, 2015 at 12:01 AM Posted Aug. 23, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Social News It's not easy being the BLM. The Bureau of Land Management is the federal agency charged with administering forest land in Western Oregon, specifically the former Oregon & California Railroad lands that are supposed to be managed for sustained yield timber production. Since the timber wars of the 1980s and 1990s, timber harvest levels have dwindled to a fraction of what they once were. Even the Northwest Forest Plan, developed during the Clinton administration as a compromise to allow continued timber harvests in designated areas, has failed to live up to its promise. The harvest levels allowed under the plan have never been reached, largely as a result of lawsuits by environmental groups seeking to block timber sales they see as damaging to forest health. After nearly 20 years under the Northwest Forest Plan, a lawsuit by the timber industry accused the BLM of failing to sell as much timber as required under the O&C Act of 1937. A federal court agreed, and ordered the agency to increase harvest levels. Now, the BLM is proposing a new Resource Management Plan for Western Oregon forests under its jurisdiction. Overall, the BLM's preferred alternative calls for some increase in timber harvests over the entire region. Predictably, the agency is once again being attacked from both sides. Environmental groups say the draft plan would lead to damaging clearcuts. Industry representatives and the leaders of O&C counties, which share in the proceeds from timber sold on O&C lands, say the harvest levels are not high enough to maintain healthy forests and generate the sustained yield required under the law. One of the specific criticisms of the BLM plan, as well as a plan proposed by Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden, is that it calls for more harvest from forests in the northern part of the state and less from the BLM's Medford and Roseburg districts. Numbers provided for the Medford District appear to bear that out. For each of the past two years, 46 million board feet have been cut on the Medford District. Under the preferred alternative of the proposed plan, that number would drop to 42 million board feet, while the harvest for all of Western Oregon would increase. It seems clear that the BLM is trying to avoid antagonizing either side in what is still a battle over forest policy. In the process, the agency is essentially calling for little or no change in harvest levels on the Medford District, despite years of forest growth coupled with fire suppression. It's hard to see how that makes sense, given that even the current harvest levels already represent a massive reduction from historical levels. Some progress has been made in pursuing thinning projects to make the forests more resilient to wildfire. Those projects that result in cutting commercially valuable, small-diameter trees suitable for the region's remaining lumber mills should be encouraged and increased, especially if they can avoid lawsuits from environmental groups. No one advocates returning to the days of rampant over-cutting that damaged ecosystems, destroyed wildlife habitat and and fouled streams. But after two decades of paralysis, it's clear the pendulum has swung too far the other direction. The BLM should maintain at least the current harvest level and ramp up its thinning program to help create both more jobs and a healthier forest. MailTribune.com Writer Posted Aug. 23, 2015 at 12:01 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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