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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend March 10, 2006 Biscuit fire logging expected in summer Environmentalists foresee some protest By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune The controversial salvage logging planned for roadless areas burned by the 2002 Biscuit fire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest isn’t expected to begin for at least three more months. "It’ll be the early part of the summer at best before we get moving on the ground," said Rob Shull, the forest’s timber and planning staff officer. "The challenge we have now is snow and access to the area," he said. "The weather will guide a lot of what we do." If the salvage continues forward as planned, it will be the first time loggers will have entered the roadless areas that were burned. Further salvage is expected to draw more protests from environmental activists. Salvage logging in the burned area’s old-growth reserves within the past year resulted in the arrest of nearly two dozen protesters beginning just over a year ago. Advertisement "There is going to be a firestorm of opposition to it," predicted Laurel Sutherlin, a spokesman for the Oxygen Collective environmental group. "Going into the roadless area will be setting a national precedent," Sutherlin said. "A lot of people who held back before are going to be coming out of the woodwork for this one." Cutting the burned timber has been shown to be an ecological and economical failure, Sutherlin said. "For the Bush administration to try to use this as a springboard to undo the roadless rule, that’s just an incredible act of arrogance on their part," he added. Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, who already has stated his opposition to the Bush administration to logging in the roadless area, is sending a letter to Regional Forester Linda Goodman reiterating his opposition, said Mike Carrier, the governor’s natural resources policy director. Since the smaller trees are no longer worth logging because of wood decay, that means loggers will be cutting the larger trees whose wood is still commercially viable, Carrier said, noting those are the trees whose removal is causing the largest conflict. "Entry into the area will also pre-empt the 2005 roadless rule which allowed governors to petition for permanent protection of roadless areas in their states," he said. "This will pre-empt the governor’s prerogative to protect those roadless areas." Last month, U.S. District Magistrate Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene, upholding another judge’s earlier ruling, dismissed lawsuits by environmental groups who charged the agency with failure to adequately protect streams, old-growth forest reserves and roadless areas from logging-related damage. The fire, the largest in the nation in 2002, spread over an area covering some 500,000 acres, although it burned in a mosaic pattern, leaving roughly 100,000 acres largely unburned within its perimeter. The U.S. Forest Service must conclude ongoing consultations to ensure Endangered Species Act requirements are met before moving forward with the salvage logging, Shull said. "We have to figure out where they apply and where they don’t," he said. Moreover, the agency has to determine how much merchantable timber is available in the two sales — Mike’s Gulch and Blackberry — planned in the roadless area, he said. Bug infestation and rot have taken their toll on many of the fire-killed trees, he said. No date has been set for auctioning the timber. The logging will be done by helicopter to avoid soil damage, officials said. Thus far, about 59 million board feet of timber has been salvaged from the burned area, Shull said. The agency had planned to salvage some 370 million board feet but officials now say the total salvage will be well short of the target. Shull said there is no way of telling now how much timber could be salvaged from the two sales in the roadless area. "There is a significant amount of decay out there," he said. "The small-diameter material — 16 to 20 inches and below — is worthless." Agency employees will be evaluating which parts of the units are economically feasible, he said. "We need to sort those out and put up the units that are still viable," he said. There are three ways the fire-killed trees lose value, including top loss, tree loss and sap loss, he explained. "With the top loss, you lose the tree because it’s small diameter," he said, adding that tree loss is the loss of the entire tree. "In sap loss, you lose the outer rind but have an inner core that is still good," he said. "We have a lot of tree loss out there." But there are many trees that have only sap loss, he said, noting that’s particularly true in areas where it is cool and moist. Timber firms have indicated they still want the salvage material, he said. "We’ve been communicating with the purchasers — they continue to tell us they are interested," he said. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at Biscuit fire logging expected in summer ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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