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Clinton's forest move prompts hisses, cheers Both sides agree protection plan will have big effect here By PAUL FATTIG Some see it as a pathetic effort to shore up a troubled legacy, while others applaud it as a masterful move to protect a priceless public resource. Either way, President Clinton's executive decision Wednesday to set aside 40 million acres of roadless areas on national forests, permanently protecting them from logging or other ground-disturbing activity, evoked strong regional response. While supporters and opponents debated the wisdom of the decision, they agreed on one thing: Clinton's decision will likely have a large impact on the region. There are 81,200 acres of roadless areas on the Rogue River National Forest and 284,000 acres on the Siskiyou National Forest, according to statistics contained in the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan. Clinton's decision "appears to me to be a continuation of this administration's policy of trying to accomplish through regulation what they couldn't accomplish through legislation," said 2nd District Congressman Greg Walden, whose district includes all of Eastern Oregon as well as Jackson and Josephine counties. "This is a multifront effort to restrict and control and put a stop to active management and use of federal land," he added. Nonsense, responded Robert Lonsdorf, conservation policy coordinator for Headwaters, the Ashland-based environmental coalition. "We're delighted to hear this good news," he said. "We see it as a long-term solution to make this area a more attractive place to live and work. "Many of these areas are within 30 miles of Medford," he added. "As growth and sprawl continues, these areas will become more and more valuable. They already contribute significantly to the qualify of life in the region." As evidence, he noted that many Rogue Valley municipalities, including Medford and Ashland, depend on mountain streams pouring out of roadless areas for clean water. It is unknown how much of the 365,000 acres locally is in parcels of 5,000 acres or more as required under Clinton's decision. Forest officials were withholding comment until they had a chance to study the executive directive. Clinton's forest protection plan would require no congressional action, relying instead on regulations to be issued by the U.S. Forest Service after a detailed environmental review and public comments, administration officials said. Currently, about 18 percent of the 192 million acres of federal forest across the nation is protected as wilderness. About 60 million acres are without roads, or signs of logging, mining and other development. Clinton's plan would cover isolated forest areas of 5,000 acres or more and would make them permanently off-limits to road-building and road disturbing activity. Most of the 40 million acres affected are in the West, according to administration officials. There are some 2 million acres of roadless areas in Oregon, according to Forest Service documents. The decision left David Hill, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association, in dismay. "The (1994) Northwest Forest Plan has already set aside 80 percent of the forests," he said. "Now we're going to have another significant reduction in the timber harvest." The result will be fewer and fewer jobs in the region, he predicted. "Clinton has simply taken 40 million acres, decided he would be judge and jury and told us this is what is going to happen," he said. "I thought we had a democratic system of government. You have to begin to wonder when Clinton takes 40 million acres out of the public domain. "I thought that only Congress had the authority to establish new wilderness areas," he added. "As far as I've seen, these are mini-wilderness areas." Clinton took the action to provide a legacy that will offset the negative press he has received in recent years, Hill concluded. Congressman Walden, a member of the Agriculture Committee whose district is more than 55 percent federally owned, appeared to agree. Clinton should be improving the Northwest Forest Plan, not coming up with another plan, he said. "The Northwest Forest Plan has been a failure and the president ought to be working to fix it instead of trying to establish a hollow legacy," he said. But Lori Cooper, spokeswoman for the Siskiyou Regional Education Project in Illinois Valley, said Clinton's action was a step in the right direction. "It's a good move," she said, although noting that many environmentalists had hoped the roadless areas would be in parcels of 1,000 acres or more. "The public needs to realize how important these roadless areas are," she said, citing the need to protect environmental corridors for plants and animals. "We will continue working toward protecting areas so we can have that connectivity so these animals and plants can survive," she said. Spencer Lennard, director of the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center in Williams, also hoped the decision would include 1,000-acre roadless parcels. "But I'm happy," said Lennard, who also serves as state wildlife chair for the Oregon Sierra Club. "These are the last vestiges of habitat for a lot of animals. This was a positive step in the right direction." Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA