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Fight over timber turns ugly BLM cites death threat; activist says that may be fiction BY JIM DAVIS WILLIAMS -- The federal Bureau of Land Management called off an open house on a proposed timber project after officials said their employees were cursed, their presentation materials were defaced and they received a death threat. The BLM was scheduled to hold the forum today in Williams about the Scattered Apples Forest Management project, which involves a timber sale in the Williams watershed area, said Bob Korhfage, the agency's field manager for Grants Pass. "I've been in the bureau for 27 years and it's the first time that I've ever seen one canceled," said Korhfage, who helped make the decision to call it off. But Jay Lininger, of the opposition group Williams Residents for Healthy Forests, said Korhfage is sensationalizing and possibly even making up incidents. "He's going to do what he can to paint us as radicals," Lininger said. Kohrfage said BLM officials will meet with concerned citizens individually, by appointment only, to collect their comments in addition to taking written comment. The Scattered Apples project has been in the works for about a year, Korhfage said. It involves 1,811 acres of mainly forest land about 12 miles south of Grants Pass. The management plan for the land includes proposed projects such as commercial timber harvesting on 550 to 900 acres, pre-commercial thinning on 1,100 acres and brush cutting on 700 acres. The plan also includes proposals to build an interpretive one-mile trail, decommission eight miles of roads and treat 40 acres for Port Orford cedar root disease. BLM will take public comment on the project through May 28 and decide this summer on how best to manage the land. Korhfage said a "small minority" of people have obstructed tour groups and previous meetings. "We tried to make presentations and we were shouted down or we were there to talk about something and they were on a different agenda," he said. At an early session last year in Williams, BLM employees had the tires on their vehicle punctured, Korhfage said. At a meeting at BLM headquarters in Medford last week, opponents of the projects scribbled remarks such as "Not Here" with a marker on BLM maps and presentation material. And recently, Korhfage said BLM received a comment card with the statement, "Do what you say and someone will die." Korhfage said his employees feel threatened. Lininger, who lives in Williams after returning to the Rogue Valley recently from living in Eugene, said the only reason BLM is proposing the Scattered Apples project is to meet a timber quota. He said the project -- if approved -- would harm the community of Williams. "You're talking about a large-scale project in which literally a thousand people will be affected," Lininger said. "There will helicopters, logging trucks coming through our community and polluted water as a direct result of this project." Lininger said about 100 people held a protest at BLM headquarters last Wednesday. He said he didn't see any shouting or cursing. He said the protesters went into the meeting, held a prayer circle and then had "meaningful dialogue" with the presenters. Korhfage is sensationalizing the incidents, he said. "I really don't think the BLM is above writing the death threat themselves," Lininger said. Evelyn Roether, project manager of Williams Creek Watershed Council, a citizen group, said her organization is trying to build a bridge between the community and the BLM. She attended the meetings and said she believes the disruption is coming from a handful of people in Williams. She also said BLM is probably hurting its reputation by not holding its long-scheduled open house in Williams. "It's not appropriate that the actions of a few people are affecting the rest of the community," Roether said. "And also their actions are not a good excuse for BLM not to come to the community." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA