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CLOUDY Temp: 45 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Wednesday, February 19, 2003 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 January 24, 2003 Scattered Apples firm makes timber appeal By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Gordon Culbertson and Tina Swanson know they are about to poke an environmental hornet’s nest with a sharp stick. But the representatives of Swanson Group Inc. of Glendale, formerly Superior Lumber Co., hope to take the sting out of opposition to the controversial Scattered Apples timber sale near Williams by reaching out to residents. In an unusual step, the firm Wednesday sent letters to residents touting perceived benefits of the project planned on U.S. Bureau of Land Management land near Williams. They include improving forest health and the economy while reducing fire hazards, the letter said. "We know this (sale) is very polarized," said Culbertson, the firm’s vice president for resources. "What we want to do is appeal to cooler heads, to get people to understand Scattered Apples for the benefits it offers." "If we can get people to listen long enough to understand what Scattered Apples is like, I think the majority will approve," added Swanson, communications director for the family-owned company. When the 3.7 million board foot sale was sold to the firm for $143,000 in a BLM auction early last fall, more than 60 demonstrators made their disapproval known outside the agency’s Medford District office. The agency has received 19 formal protests regarding the sale, including one from the Williams Town Council. Opponents, led by the Williams-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, say the sale is an example of the BLM using the fear of wildfires as an excuse to log mature and old growth timber. They say many large fire-resistant trees will be logged, increasing surface fuels and fire danger. The agency, which has yet to award the sale, says the majority of the work involves commercial thinning to reduce the fire hazard and improve forest health. However, the sale is still under a protest review, a district spokeswoman said Thursday. The firm’s efforts to reach out won’t sway opposition, said Brenna Bell, a Williams resident and staff attorney for the wildlands center. Opponents plan to protest at the firm’s headquarters and mills in Glendale on Monday, she said. "If anything, opposition has grown as people learn more about the sale," she said. "We’re going to ask (the firm) to get out of the contract," she said of Monday’s protest. While the firm doesn’t expect to convince hardliners, it hopes that reaching out will reduce the controversy, say Culbertson and Swanson. "We want people to give us a call if they have any questions," Swanson said. "As we get further along in the sale, we plan on letting people know which units we are working on and when. We don’t want to be tight lipped about it and have any surprises for people." They also plan to meet with residents to talk further about the sale. "There has been a lot of disinformation distributed," Culbertson said. For example, concerns rising over increased dust as well as hazards from logging trucks on roads is unwarranted, he said. "Our record shows we have been sensitive to the communities we have worked around," he said, citing a letter from an Illinois Valley resident last summer which thanked the firm and the agency for piling slash instead of leaving it as fuel for a fire. Some established dirt roads with erosion problems will be improved while more than six miles of old roads will be removed, according to the plan. Most logs will be removed by helicopters. "This is about thinning small trees to reduce the overcrowding and improve the vitality of the forest," said Culbertson, a longtime logger with an associate’s degree as a forest technician. Swanson agreed. "From the standpoint of fire, this definitely will help," Swanson said, noting that similar logging near the Squire fire last summer helped slow that fire east of Ruch. "In the Scattered Apple sale, it’s very brushy," she added. "There is a lot of dying small timber in the understory. We can really help with fire mitigation in that area." Culbertson firmly believes that Scattered Apples is on the front line of the battle over logging on public land. "One of the things that is important to remember is that this is about developing a plan based on what’s left when you’re done," he said. "There are some larger trees being cut but the main purpose isn’t to log the large trees. The purpose is to thin the forest in a way that will give adequate spacing between trees and reduce the fuel hazard." The goal is to return the forest to the way it would have appeared before intense fire suppression began nearly a century ago, he said. "Our objective is to make contact with folks and explain why it is an important project to that community, to the county, to this part of the state," he reiterated. "We think Scattered Applies is a model of what we should be doing." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-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