The ink is barely dry on the Bureau Of Land Management’s (BLM) updated timber plan and it’s already being challenged in court.
Oregon Wild and five other conservation groups are filing a lawsuit to stop BLM from carrying out the plan until it allows a 30-day public comment period. The groups say federal law requires one, but accuses BLM of trying to avoid it. They also argue that the updated plan is very different from the original and that the public deserves the right to comment on the changes.
BLM issued the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the timber plan earlier this month. The plan, also known as the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), doubles the amount of logging allowed on 2.6 million acres of public lands, mostly in southwest Oregon. BLM says it would create 1200 timber related jobs and send badly needed timber revenues to counties.
The conservation groups say it allows too much clear cutting, too much harvesting of old growth forests, and doesn’t go far enough to protect streams and fish habitat.
To learn more about the WOPR visit:
BLM: Western Oregon Plan Revisions
