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45 °F Forecast | Road Cams Sunday, March 7, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 24, 2004 Shannon Cleary and Kerul Dyer of Ashland carry a mock casket symbolizing the �death� of survey-and-manage requirements for sensitive plants and animals contained in the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell A plea for biodiversity Activists stage a mock funeral in Medford as the comment period for a Northwest Forest Plan impact statement ends By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Monday’s funeral procession in downtown Medford featured a small black coffin carried by solemn people dressed in black mourning clothes. But there was no cadaver in the casket carried at the head of a line of nearly 40 environmental activists parading in front of the Rogue River National Forest headquarters. "We’re not here to be a bunch of rowdy, raucous people staging a surly demonstration," stressed Lesley Adams, spokeswoman for the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "We’re here to mourn the loss of biodiversity." Monday marked the last day of the 30-day comment period for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management’s final supplemental environmental impact statement to remove or modify the survey-and-manage requirements for sensitive plant and animal species contained in the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Basically, the plan applies to federal lands within range of the northern spotted owl — Western Oregon and Washington and northwestern California. Advertisement The agencies’ preferred alternative would remove the requirements to survey and manage some 300 sensitive species, relying instead on existing environmental laws to protect them. The final decision on the SEIS is expected next month. The document was a result of a lawsuit settlement between plaintiff Douglas Timber Operators and defendants the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture. In the lawsuit, the industry claimed the survey-and-manage provisions were excessive and unwarranted, violating the Oregon & California Revested Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937. It also said the provisions were beyond the scope of environmental laws created in the past 30-plus years. If the survey-and-manage provisions are dropped, it would allow timber companies to log the nearly 1.1 billion board feet targeted under the Northwest Forest Plan, according to agency officials. Since 1994, logging levels have averaged well below the plan’s quota. It would also save the government more than $18 million annually to conduct the surveys, agency officials said. The survey-and-manage provisions have had an impact locally, said Karen Gillespie, spokeswoman for the BLM’s Medford District. "We’ve changed the proposed boundaries in order to protect sensitive species," she said of some logging sales. "But we’ve also found that many of the species were more common than originally thought," she added, noting that caused other sales to move forward unchanged. Inside the national forest office, acting forest spokesman Tom Lavagnino said Monday’s demonstration was civil and didn’t disrupt employees’ workday. Dave Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, who stopped at the office during the demonstration, wasn’t impressed. "Survey-and-manage has been a series of financial and scientific boondoggles for the agencies," he said. "It was simply a tool the environmental community latched onto to create further delays and help them stop all commercial activities on public lands." But critics say the SEIS is the result of a "sue-and-settle" strategy in which the Bush administration encourages "friendly lawsuits" from the timber industry to roll back environmental protections for old-growth forests. The demonstration was one of nine held Monday at Forest Service and BLM offices in cities throughout the Pacific Northwest, from Bellingham, Wash., to Arcata, Calif. "We believe it’s very clear that the Bush administration is choosing to ignore science because it makes it easier to further their agenda," Adams said. "In this case, it means cutting down more trees on public land." She noted the Union of Concerned Scientists’ 46-page report released last week concluded the Bush administration is censoring and distorting science to its political advantage. The group represents 60 prominent U.S. scientists, including 20 Nobel laureates. "Rather than listen to these scientists and examining the data they are gathering on sensitive and rare species, this administration chooses to eliminate the entire program," she said. Copies of the final SEIS is available on line at www.or.blm.gov/nwfpnepa/ . Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times