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62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, March 18, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 16, 2005 Judge denies logging halt; closure widened From staff and wire reports A federal judge in Eugene on Tuesday denied the latest request from environmentalists to impose an emergency halt to salvage logging in an old-growth forest reserve burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire. The U.S. Forest Service also expanded the closure order for the Fiddler timber sale in the Rogue River- Siskiyou National Forest late Tuesday afternoon to keep out protesters who have interfered with operations three times over the past nine days. Weighing "serious questions" of environmental harm from the logging raised by Cascadia Wildlands Project against the economic losses that would be suffered by timber buyers and logging companies, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan denied a temporary restraining order. He will hold a hearing March 29 on the next step in the legal process, a motion from environmentalists for a preliminary injunction to halt the logging. Hogan noted that environmentalists had raised serious questions on several claims, including one suggesting the U.S. Forest Service did not use a proper method to assure it was meeting its own guidelines for preventing erosion and protecting fish and wildlife. Advertisement The judge also noted that Silver Creek Timber Co., which is logging the Fiddler sale, stood to lose $190,000 a week if logging is halted, and contractors working for him would lose $322,500 a week. "We obviously feel differently," said James Johnston of Cascadia Wildlands. "We feel that there are plenty of other values to national forests than the value timber companies can extract in lumber. And we’ll be making that case to the appellate court." The new closure order covers 1,631 acres, including a safety zone of 450 feet around the harvest unit boundary perimeter and the flight pathfrom the harvest units to planned helicopter landings, officials said. "Tree felling in areas with fire-killed trees presents unique and hazardous situations for loggers," said Tom Link, the Biscuit recovery project team leader. "The presence of people being in these timber sale units while logging operations are conducted cannot be permitted for safety reasons," he added. A road closure issued Monday included the sale and three forest roads leading to it. Meanwhile, three of the 27 protesters in the Josephine County Jail on charges they interfered with the logging said they were on a hunger strike to protest the criminal charges against them and jail conditions. Jesse Brown, 26, of Portland said he and two other jailed protesters were refusing food to call attention to their contention that charges of interfering with an agricultural operation filed against them are unconstitutional. Brown also complained that inmates were held in a cold cell and repeatedly asked questions after saying they wanted to remain silent. Attorney Laurel Regen of Eugene said she had won dismissal of similar charges against anti-logging protesters last year in Curry County Circuit Court in Gold Beach on constitutional grounds. Josephine County District Attorney Stephen Campbell said he believes the charge is constitutional. Sheriff’s Lt. Howard Banks said six inmates had filed grievances. He could not confirm whether protesters claiming to be on a hunger strike were eating. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s