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CLOUDY Temp: 57 °F Wind: S at 4 mph Saturday, August 3, 2002 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Cyberchef E The People Golf Job Network Headbone Zone Wellness Connection Movie Times Newspaper in Education Oregon CarZone Outdoor Journal Personals Prime Times Real Estate Tempo A & E TV Times W3 Magazine CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Destinations Automotive Communities Employment Entertainment Publications Real Estate Recreation Shopping Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Jobs @ Mail Tribune Email Story to a Friend July 14, 2002 BLM decision restarts argument over salvage By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune Last month’s decision by the Bureau of Land Management not to salvage 4.6 million board feet of timber burned by the Quartz Fire rekindled the debate over salvaging timber following a wildfire. Related stories: � Debating salvage: The question becomes more pressing during fire season . � The debate "all depends on what your values are" The timber industry criticized the decision as irresponsible while environmental activists cheered. The sale had been protested by both the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center and the Sierra Club in letters to the agency. The BLM originally had planned to salvage more than 500 acres of the 954 acres of its land burned by the 6,000-acre fire. However, the salvage sale received no bids in an auction held May 30. The agency had planned to reoffer it a month later but decided not to because of concern it still wouldn’t draw a bid. Officials also feared that three timber-salvage court cases in the region could further delay or even block the local salvage sale. If the fire-killed trees were not logged this summer, 50 to 70 percent of the volume would be lost to bug and disease infestation, they said. The average tree to be salvaged was about 12 inches in diameter at chest high. The agency and the industry agreed that the high cost of required helicopter logging, coupled with associated road- building, caused would-be bidders to balk. The cancellation did not affect restoration work at the site, most of which has been completed. The BLM has planted more than 200,000 trees on its burned land, placed fire-killed trees across ravines and hillsides to reduce erosion and removed roads and trails built by firefighting crews. Meanwhile, the Forest Service is holding off salvaging timber on the 3,466 acres of the Rogue River National Forest burned by the fire until restoration is completed. The agency is focusing on the more than $1 million it has received from the National Fire Plan fund to restore the burned area. Those funds have to be spent or earmarked for use during the federal fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30. Because of that deadline, the agency decided to complete the restoration process first, then focus on the salvage. The national forest trees in the burned fire are generally larger and at a higher elevation, and didn’t burn as severely, officials said. The four principal private land owners, who have a combined 1,600 acres of timberland burned by the Quartz Fire, have completed their salvage activity as well as restoration work. 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 web master feedback A D V E R T I S E R S