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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 Since We Asked Sports Tempo Weather Special Coverage 2006 Britt Festivals --> Shop Our Valley AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Search Our Valley Special Sections Homelife Magazine Joy Magazine Readers Choice 2006 Oregon Golf Info Oregon Wine Info Our Valley 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 August 5, 2006 Blackberry timber sells for 5 times appraisal By Paul Fattig Mail Tribune The Blackberry timber salvage sale in an inventoried roadless area burned by the 2002 Biscuit fire sold for more than five times its appraised value Friday. Four timber firms bid for nearly an hour before the Silver Creek Timber Co. of Murphy emerged the top bidder, purchasing the sale for $1.67 million, paying $213.05 per thousand board-feet for the fire-killed timber. The area in the Gold Beach Ranger District of the Rogue-River Siskiyou National Forest had been appraised at $317,853, or $40.46 per thousand. The unit contains nearly 8 million board-feet of timber. Silver Creek was also the high bidder for the Mike's Gulch salvage sale, another inventoried roadless area. That sale also has been adamantly opposed by the environmental community. That area, a 9.36 million board-foot sale in the Illinois Valley Ranger District, sold in June for only $300,052. "These trees were a bigger and better quality," explained Silver Creek President John West of the high bidding for Blackberry. "They are in a little better shape." West said the firm would begin logging the Mike's Gulch area next week with the Blackberry area logging beginning soon after. Acknowledging the strong opposition to the roadless area sales from environmental groups, West said there would be ample security at the sites. "Hopefully, the 'enviros' won't break the law," he said, adding, "In court, you've got to deal with what the judges say." He was referring to the court cases trying to block the sales, which thus far have not succeeded. However, four of those cases have yet to be decided. The Mike's Gulch and Blackberry areas, both of which will be logged by helicopters, are believed to be the first to be sold in a national forest since the Bush administration eased roadless area logging restrictions last year. "It shows how valuable this is to the local economy, something we've been indicating all along," forest spokeswoman Patty Burel said of the high bidding for the Blackberry unit. "The purpose of these sales is to provide for the local economy," she added. "The additional dollars will go back into restoration for the Biscuit, reforestation and restoration. This will take dead trees and benefit the local economy." But members of the environmental community say removing the dead timber degrades the watershed and harms the young trees already emerging out of the ashes. They also argue that other Biscuit salvage sales haven't made any profits. "They'll probably make some money on this sale, but that doesn't take away from the importance of that area," said Dominick DellaSala, a forest ecologist and executive director of the Ashland-based National Center for Conservation Science & Policy. "The highest and best use of that area is not for logging," he said, citing its importance as a watershed which provides clean water for fish and an untouched area for the region's rich biological diversity. DellaSala said studies have shown the U.S. Forest Service has lost roughly $7 million on its other Biscuit fire sales. "This one looks like it will have an economic benefit, but that doesn't make up for the losses on the other ones," he said. "Even though this particular sale is in the black, it just doesn't seem right to me that someone can make a buck at the expense of drawing down the natural biological capital of our kids and their future grandchildren," he added. "We continue to act as if only our generation matters by chipping away at the last of the big wild areas." Rolf Skar, campaign director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, agreed. "The Bush administration said they would protect roadless forests as state petitions were created — it seems those were hollow words." he said. "Blackberry is the latest example of the fire-sale happening on our national forests." One of the lawsuits still up in the air is by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski and three other state governors who seek to restore the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule that was replaced by the Bush administration. The replacement regulations allow governors to petition to protect inventoried roadless areas in their states. Kulongoski has until Nov. 18 to submit a petition, and will hold hearings later this month to gather public input. Although no new roads will be constructed on the 74-acre Blackberry unit, Silver Creek will be required to reconstruct existing roads leading to the site at a cost of nearly $48,000. A landing site for the logging helicopter also would have to be built. The other bidders for the sale were East Fork Lumber Co. of Myrtle Point, CLR Timber Holdings of Brookings and Dodenhoff Logging Co. from the Rogue Valley. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or at [email protected] . 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