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Two views of Bush Industry cheers while activists worry By PAUL FATTIG Winds of change may soon blow through the federal timberlands of Oregon, says Dave Hill. Driving those changes is the new tenant in the White House in Washington, D.C., said the executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association. "We�re definitely more optimistic," he said. "Just the fact there are no new restrictions on federal land management activities within the last 60 days is positive. "We look at the moratorium of the implementation of the roadless area policy as positive," he added, referring to an How many board feet? The following is the million board feet (mmbf) of timber sold on the Bureau of Land Management�s Medford District and the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests since 1960: Year Medford District Rogue River Siskiyou 1960 239 176 189 1970 274 198 243 1980 213 234 228 1990 57 197 137 2000 57 0.6 1 11th-hour Clinton policy put on hold by the Bush administration. "There are some very positive signs out there." But what the industry sees as positive steps taken by the Bush administration are reasons to worry in the eyes of many environmentalists. "There are signs the new administration is about to start moving the Forest Service and other federal agencies away from ecological sustainability," said Dominick DellaSala, director of the World Wildlife Fund�s Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program. "That would derail the process started by the outgoing administration." Both sides say they have the best interest of the woods and timber workers in mind. "I think the environmental concerns will be met in the future � I have no doubts about that," Hill said. "We shouldn�t be afraid to manage our lands." He hopes the new administration will modify the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan pushed through by Clinton. "It wouldn�t take a great deal of analysis to recognize that environmental objectives have been implemented but management objectives have not," Hill said. The plan set aside more than 80 percent of the federal forestland in the region within the range of the northern spotted owl, he noted. "But there has been very little, if any, timber management activity on the remaining land" on which timber harvesting would be allowed, he said. "We need more activity across the landscape," he said. "We need more thinning activity, a lighter touch on a comprehensive watershed basis. Issues concerning forest health and fire need to be addressed on a comprehensive basis rather than a small portion of the landscape like under the Northwest Forest Plan." Those changes would help economically troubled local mills and logging firms, he said. DellaSala believes both the timber industry and the environment can survive. "But it would be a mistake to undo the protections established by the Northwest Forest Plan," he said. "Any steps undoing that would move us back to a situation that isn�t sustainable." The focus should be on sustainability, he said. "I�m not against the timber industry � I want to see a sustainable industry," he said. "But it has to be based on what the ecosystem can support. He supports a growing effort to produce timber products that have been certified as ecologically sustainable through the nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council. "The era of logging big trees on federal land is over," he said. "It�s time to refocus on sustainability for the ecosystems as well as the economy." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.