The Oregon Sierra Club says it won’t support Senator Wyden’s logging bill for Eastern Oregon.
The group had been withholding judgement ever since the deal was announced almost two months ago. But now, the group’s Conservation Director Ivan Maluski tells me that without some changes, the Sierra Club will oppose the measure.
His critique of the logging bill is, in many ways, similar to concerns raised by the Obama Adminstration.
A view of Steins Pillar in the Ochoco National Forest. Photo from BLM.
Long time adversaries in Oregon’s timber wars told the Senate today they’re ready to make peace, at least in Eastern Oregon.
The setting was a hearing on the Eastern Oregon Logging bill sponsored by Senator Wyden. Based on a historic compromise between timber and conservation groups, the bill hopes to revive the region’s logging industry while at the same time protecting old growth trees and restoring forests.
But despite the talk of peace and collaboration, it’s clear there are still some hard feelings out there.
About the only thing all the witnesses agreed on is that Eastern Oregon’s forests are in deep trouble and need help.
See streaming video of hearing at this link.
1:29pm: Kerr admits the conservation community is split over the bill. Many groups still believe in preserving forests from development because that activity has been harmful in the past. More are recognizing that restoring forests are now what’s needed.
1:05pm Not a fan of the bill, Larry Blasing of the Grant County Forest Commission. Calls it a bureaucratic nightmare that doesn’t address the need for jobs and the economy.
12:48pm: John Shelk of Ochoco Lumber. The bill is an “agreeable compromise” that protects forests and the Eastern Oregon tax base. Nearly two dozen mills have closed. Eight are remaining. How much longer than can survive depends on a steady supply of logs from federal forests.
12:42pm: Oregon witnesses are up. Andy Kerr of Oregon Wild says, “It’s not a perfect bill, but it is nonetheless a great bill.”
A Whitebark Pine in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Photo by Dave Powell, U.S. Forest Service
Tomorrow, the Senate gets its first look at a compromise logging bill for Eastern Oregon.
Ideally, the bill is supposed to end years of timber wars. No more logging for the sake of logging. Instead, timber harvests happen as part of a greater effort to restore forests. Old growth trees are off limits. But Eastern Oregon lumber mills get a steady supply of smaller trees to help them stay in business.
The compromise came after 18-months of negotiations between Oregon environmental and timber groups. Senator Wyden, who helped organize the talks is sponsoring the bill and Senator Merkley has joined him.
A Whitebark Pine in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Photo by Dave Powell, U.S. Forest Service
Senator Wyden’s logging bill for Eastern Oregon forests picked up the support of Senator Merkley today.
Merkley’s office issued a press release saying he’ll co-sponsor the bill, officially known as the Oregon Forest Restoration and Old Growth Protection Act of 2009. It has a first hearing March 10 with the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests.
The bill has divided Oregon’s environmental community.
The Hells Canyon Preservation Council says it just can’t support a compromise deal for logging forests in Eastern Oregon.
The deal, put together after 18-months of negotiations between environmental groups and the timber industry, opens the door for logging on about 8 million acres of federal forests east of the Cascades.
Add Governor Kulongoski to the list of supporters for the new Eastern Oregon logging agreement that was announced this week.
The deal was negotiated by timber and conservation groups, with the help of Senator Wyden’s office. Wyden will introduce legislation to make it happen.
“The forests of eastern Oregon have reached a crisis condition as has our wood products industry,” says Kulongoski in his statement. “Our communities and rural economies are stressed beyond tolerance and Senator Wyden’s bill is the kind of solution to this triple threat that Congress should adopt as quickly as possible.”
The bill has been described as historic, and for good reasons.
