Document text
Roadless plan makes both sides hold noses Clinton plan would put 43 million acres off-limits By PAUL FATTIG Timber industry representative David Hill and environmental activist Spencer Lennard don't often agree. But the two were united in their disgust over the draft environmental impact statement (EIS) released Tuesday by U.S. Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck in response to a directive by President Clinton last fall to protect national forest roadless areas. The proposed management plan would prohibit new roads on 43 million acres of inventoried roadless areas -- 1.6 million acres in Oregon -- while letting local agency officials decide whether to ban activities such as logging, mining and off-road vehicle use. That could include the 81,228 acres of roadless areas in the 632,028-acre Rogue River National Forest and 284,245 roadless acres in the 1.16-million acre Siskiyou National Forest. "My initial reaction is disappointment," said Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association. "It seems like the federal managers back in Washington, D.C., are ducking the tougher issues, and leaving those to local foresters. "This will only continue the arguments for years to come," he added. "It's extremely disappointing," said Lennard, co-director of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "These are (Clinton) administration policies that are nothing more than a smoking mirror to keep control of the White House." But at this point agreement gives way to disagreement over how roadless areas ought to be managed. Environmentalists generally want more protection while the timber industry and others, including off-road vehicle users, want to keep more roadless areas open for multiple use. Nationally, about 60 million acres of the 192 million acres of federal forests are considered undeveloped. The rest of the acreage is host to a wide range of activities, including logging, camping, skiing, mining and off-road vehicle use. The draft plan sets broad criteria for what activities to allow on the roadless areas but would have local officials make the final call. The plan also would let local officials decide whether roads should be banned in smaller forest parcels of 5,000 acres or less. The plan defers a decision on whether to prohibit roads in 8.7 million acres of the nation's largest forest, the Tongass in Alaska, until 2004, when agency officials review a separate plan governing that area. Because it came from a presidential directive, the proposal requires no congressional action. Instead, it will rely on regulations issued by the Forest Service after a detailed environmental review and public comments. Under the draft plan, local concerns would be considered in the decisions, said Mary Marrs, spokeswoman for the Rogue River and Siskiyou forests. "The draft EIS will set up some basic guidelines, but when it comes down to site-specific projects, we would get the public involved," she said. "That's where interested publics -- the mining contingency or recreational groups or the environmental interests -- would have a chance to comment." Reaction Tuesday was largely negative. Timber industry groups said the proposal limits their access to forests. "It's another step toward zero harvest," said Jim Geisinger, president of the Northwest Forestry Association in Portland. Environmental groups felt the draft EIS was not restrictive enough. "We expected more protection -- we were a little taken aback," said Lori Cooper, staff attorney for the Siskiyou Regional Education Project, an environmental group based in the Illinois Valley. One of her major concerns was that the roadless area size could be limited to 5,000 acres. "We have places around here that are a little smaller but still need protection," Cooper said. "Because an area only includes 4,500 acres it shouldn't be protected? That doesn't make sense." She also noted the draft only eliminates road building. "They can still log with helicopters in these areas," she said. Lennard, too, was concerned about the potential for activities such as logging or mining. "This clearly doesn't go anywhere near far enough," he said. "There are very few roadless areas left. And the bulk of critical habitat is in these places. We have a huge problem with fragmentation of species. Isolation is one of the precursors of extinction. "In 50 years, we're going to be wishing we had done a hell of a lot more," he added. To that, Hill agrees more needs to be done, but only if it protects multiple uses on public lands. "We haven't had a timber sale on the Rogue (River) or the Siskiyou for the past six months. Are we already at a zero-cut the environmentalists want?" Deadline for comments on the draft EIS is July 17. Comments should be sent be faxed to 877-703-2494 or mailed to: USDA Forest Service-CAET, attention: Roadless Area Proposed Rule, P.O. Box 221090, Salt Lake City, UT 84122. Comments can also be sent via the Web site http://roadless.fs.fed.us. To get involved Six public meetings will be held in Southern Oregon in the next two months to review and receive comments on the Forest Service's draft environmental impact statement for President Clinton's roadless area proposal. The first three meetings, co-hosted by staff from the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests, will be informational sessions to give the public a chance to review the draft plan and to talk with agency employees. Comments will be accepted during the second three meetings. Each session will be from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The first informational session will be May 30 at the Gold Beach Resort Convention Center, 29232 South Ellensburg, Gold Beach. The second informational meeting will be May 31 at the Red Lion Hotel, 200 N. Riverside Ave., Medford. The third will be June 1 in the floral exhibit building at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass. The second set of meetings will allow the public to provide formal oral comments limited to three minutes. A certified court reporter will record the comments. Written comments can also be turned in at these sessions. The first formal comment meeting will be June 27 at the Gold Beach Resort Convention Center in Gold Beach, followed by the second on June 28 at the Red Lion Hotel in Medford. The third session will be held June 29 at the Josephine County Fairgrounds in Grants Pass. For more information on the proposal, including a summary and maps, check out the Web site at: http://roadless.fs.fed.us Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA