landusepbb
02-25-2004, 01:55 PM
http://www.newsreview.info/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Date=20040224&Category=NEWS&ArtNo=102240024&SectionCat=&Template=printpictart
Rally protests elimination of forest surveys
DIANE HUBER
Protest
Dressed as a fresh water turtle, Jeff Havenerof Roseburg joined protesters in front of the Bureau of Land Management office on Garden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg Monday. About 20 people waved signs to protest changes in a rule that requires land management agencies to survey for rare species before logging.
ANDY BRONSON/The News-Review
People lined the sidewalk in front of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Roseburg Monday to protest the elimination of a rule that requires land management agencies survey for rare species before logging.
"All species are sacred" read one sign. "300 species lost Protection today. Environmental Laws -- Bushwhacked again" read another carried by a few Roseburg High School students.
"Since they're cutting so many species out of the list ... they can just (log) whatever," sophomore Amalie Lantz, one of about 20 demonstrators, said. "I want my children to have a forest too."
Patrick Starnes, outreach coordinator for the Roseburg-based conservation group Umpqua Watersheds, said the change is as good as set in stone, and there is little the group can do now.
"We just want to let the community, the president, the BLM know how disappointed we are," he said.
The new rule, which could be finalized in a record of decision as soon as this month, would mean the BLM and Forest Service would no longer have to survey for nearly 300 species -- such as lichens and red tree vole -- before logging on land designated for timber harvest. The rule was part of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan.
A timber industry lawsuit, which included Douglas Timber Operators, prompted the change. The timber industry has complained for years that the rule takes too long and keeps federal agencies from meeting harvest goals of the Northwest Forest Plan.
Agency officials agree surveying has been difficult to implement.
E. Lynn Burkett, spokeswoman for the Roseburg BLM, said surveys can take two or three years.
The rule is also expensive. "We're talking about taxpayers' money," she said.
Environmentalists defend the rule that they say safeguards rare species, and say without it, logging could double on federal lands in Washington, Oregon and Northern California.
"The overall cost could be a lot more by not surveying," Robert Hoehne of Dillard said.
Surveys can point out an unknown significance of plants and animals, he said. As an example he cited yew wood, which surveys found to contain the cancer-fighting agent, taxol.
Starnes said the rule change is not only a loss for the forest, it is a threat to BLM and Forest Service employees who spend their time searching for rare species.
"These survey jobs ... are really good-paying jobs," he said.
Burkett said many people are employed full time surveying, but it is too soon to tell if jobs will be lost.
She pointed out that the agency still must abide by the Endangered Species Act, rules for special status species and other guidelines. She said it is likely many of the species on the survey list will move to special status.
"We have plenty to look out for before we even have a timber job," she said.
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.
Rally protests elimination of forest surveys
DIANE HUBER
Protest
Dressed as a fresh water turtle, Jeff Havenerof Roseburg joined protesters in front of the Bureau of Land Management office on Garden Valley Boulevard in Roseburg Monday. About 20 people waved signs to protest changes in a rule that requires land management agencies to survey for rare species before logging.
ANDY BRONSON/The News-Review
People lined the sidewalk in front of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Roseburg Monday to protest the elimination of a rule that requires land management agencies survey for rare species before logging.
"All species are sacred" read one sign. "300 species lost Protection today. Environmental Laws -- Bushwhacked again" read another carried by a few Roseburg High School students.
"Since they're cutting so many species out of the list ... they can just (log) whatever," sophomore Amalie Lantz, one of about 20 demonstrators, said. "I want my children to have a forest too."
Patrick Starnes, outreach coordinator for the Roseburg-based conservation group Umpqua Watersheds, said the change is as good as set in stone, and there is little the group can do now.
"We just want to let the community, the president, the BLM know how disappointed we are," he said.
The new rule, which could be finalized in a record of decision as soon as this month, would mean the BLM and Forest Service would no longer have to survey for nearly 300 species -- such as lichens and red tree vole -- before logging on land designated for timber harvest. The rule was part of the 1994 Northwest Forest Plan.
A timber industry lawsuit, which included Douglas Timber Operators, prompted the change. The timber industry has complained for years that the rule takes too long and keeps federal agencies from meeting harvest goals of the Northwest Forest Plan.
Agency officials agree surveying has been difficult to implement.
E. Lynn Burkett, spokeswoman for the Roseburg BLM, said surveys can take two or three years.
The rule is also expensive. "We're talking about taxpayers' money," she said.
Environmentalists defend the rule that they say safeguards rare species, and say without it, logging could double on federal lands in Washington, Oregon and Northern California.
"The overall cost could be a lot more by not surveying," Robert Hoehne of Dillard said.
Surveys can point out an unknown significance of plants and animals, he said. As an example he cited yew wood, which surveys found to contain the cancer-fighting agent, taxol.
Starnes said the rule change is not only a loss for the forest, it is a threat to BLM and Forest Service employees who spend their time searching for rare species.
"These survey jobs ... are really good-paying jobs," he said.
Burkett said many people are employed full time surveying, but it is too soon to tell if jobs will be lost.
She pointed out that the agency still must abide by the Endangered Species Act, rules for special status species and other guidelines. She said it is likely many of the species on the survey list will move to special status.
"We have plenty to look out for before we even have a timber job," she said.
* You can reach reporter Diane Huber at 957-4218 or by e-mail at dhuber@newsreview.info.