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L/RAIN Temp: 43 °F Wind: N at 4 mph Wednesday, December 11, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend November 24, 2002 Next time will be worse, environmentalists promise By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune If you think the Peak timber sale drew protesters, just wait until next year, says George Sexton. "The Sturgis sale is going to make the Peak sale look like a picnic," warned the environmental activist. "One of the things I keep hearing from folks is that there are not going to be any more easy old-growth timber sales for the Rogue River forest," he added. "I expect a war in the woods every time the Rogue goes after old-growth trees." The Silver-Sturgis timber sale is a sister to the Peak sale. A portion of that sale is contained in the replacement volume program adopted by the Forest Service. Approved by Congress in 1995, the replacement program exchanges logging sales on coastal federal forestland inhabited by the marbled murrelet, a threatened seabird, for sales in the Rogue River and Umpqua national forests. All of the Peak sale was replacement volume. Located in the upper Applegate River drainage, the Silver-Sturgis contains some 8 million board feet of timber. The Scott Timber Co., a subsidiary of Roseburg Forest Products, is the contractor for that unit where logging could begin next spring. Environmental activists aren’t opposed to all replacement sales, Sexton said, noting that both the Buck Point and Brush replacement sales in the upper Rogue River drainage were unopposed. "The Forest Service went after smaller-diameter thinning in those sales," he said. "It was smooth sailing. It’s just when they pick ancient forests that people get upset." However, agency officials have repeatedly said the Silver-Sturgis sale is also largely a thinning sale to protect mature pine trees being squeezed out by competing vegetation. Ray Jones, vice president of resources for Roseburg Forest Products, describes the Silver-Sturgis as a thinning sale to reduce the threat of wildfire while improving forest health. His firm has been working with the Forest Service to ensure logging will be done in an environmentally-friendly manner, he indicated. "There is still lots of conversation going on," he said, later adding, "As with any controversial timber sale, we have to deal with each sale one at a time." Citing opposition to the Peak timber sale, U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., this fall asked Department of Agriculture officials to find alternative timber sales for two controversial replacement volume sales not yet awarded. One of those included the Silver-Sturgis. He suggested there are non-controversial timber volume alternatives on the Willamette and Siuslaw national forests to exchange for the replacement volume sales on the Rogue River and Umpqua forests.The agency has not yet acted on Wyden’s proposal. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 ore-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright 1997-2002 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S