As far as Oregon is concerned, this may be the biggest blow yet to Bush-era environmental policies. And local green groups couldn’t be happier.
Today, the Interior Department says it’s killing a plan that would greatly increase logging on about 2.6 million acres of federal forests in Western Oregon. The plan, known as the Western Oregon Plan Revisions (WOPR), was approved in the final weeks of the Bush Administration.
A Western Oregon Old Growth Forest. Courtesy BLM.
Why the change in direction? Two reasons.
First, Interior says WOPR was approved too soon and that the Bush Administration failed to follow all the steps required by the Endangered Species law. As a result, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the plan is “legally indefensible” and “cannot stand up in court.”
Next, it point to problems with Bush Administration changes to the recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl. Those changes, made in 2008, were used to help write the WOPR. But an Inspector General’s report says the process was potentially jeopardized by a former Bush official using “improper political influence”.
U.S. Fish And Wildlife Service will take a new look at the recovery plan for the Northern Spotted Owl.
As a result, Interior is asking a federal judge to toss out the Bush spotted owl plan and is directing the Fish and Wildlife Service to start work on a new one.
Among the Northwest environmental groups praising today’s news is Oregon Wild. The group’s Doug Heiken says, “President Obama has pulled the plug on the most cynical attack on Oregon’s old growth forests in decades.”
Oregon Wild has been critical of the WOPR because it believes the plan allows too much logging on forests more than 80 years old. These “mature forests” include old growth areas, and play vital roles in providing habitat for spotted owls, marbeled murrelets, and clean, cold streams for salmon.
Chuck Willer, Executive Director of the Coast Range Association, believes the decision will save the “best remaining native forest” in Oregon’s Coast Range. “This is a gift to tomorrow’s children for a region in short supply of old growth forest and quality salmon habitat.”
No one expects a halt to logging in Western Oregon. In fact, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar used today’s announcement to praise Governor Kulongoski, Senators Wyden and Merkley, and Congressman DeFazio for their work to build a consensus on how to move forward. “There is broadening agreement that it is time to reevaluate the logging of old growth forests on BLM lands,” says Salazar. “There is also agreement that logging should not occur in areas that would put water quality at risk, and we should fully consider advances in forestry and increased knowledge of species’ needs over the last two decades.”
