world news - 13.11.2002
Timber sales down in Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
During the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the Wallowa-Whitman, at 2.3 million acres, offered for sale 16 million board-feet of timber.
The previous low was in 1993, when the forest offered 23 million board-feet, said Carla Monismith, the Wallowa-Whitman's timber sale officer. The forest's annual average for the past decade was slightly less than 42 million board-feet. During the 1980s the forest sold almost 196 million board-feet per year.
Since then, appeals and lawsuits, the addition of Snake River salmon runs to the endangered species list and a shift in the Forest Service's overall mission -— away from harvesting trees and toward protecting wildlife habitat -— have drastically reduced logging.
The heavier cutting of previous decades also reduced the amount of mature ponderosa pine trees still standing. Monismith said the Forest Service's regional office in Portland assigned the Wallowa-Whitman a target of 27.2 million board-feet for the previous fiscal year. The forest was on track to exceed that goal until three sales were derailed.
All three are on the La Grande Ranger District. Two, called Sandy Bottle and Little Bear, are the subject of a lawsuit filed by the Hells Canyon Preservation Council and the Oregon Natural Resources Council.
The plaintiffs claim those timber sales are in areas that serve as habitat for the threatened Canada lynx, said Brett Brownscombe, conservation direction for the Hells Canyon Preservation Council. Though there is no proof that lynx live on the Wallowa-Whitman, the Endangered Species Act requires the forest to protect areas the elusive cats might use if they either pass through or establish home ranges here.
But Wallowa-Whitman officials say none of the areas where logging is proposed is in potential lynx habitat. The final hearing in the case was last week, and Monismith said she expects the judge to issue a decision on the lawsuit within a month.
Sandy Bottle and Little Bear include about 7.5 million board-feet of timber.
The third sale, called Sprinkle, totals about 5.4 million board-feet. Wallowa-Whitman officials planned to sell it last year, but the project has been delayed while officials review the proposed contract for the sale.
Had the Wallowa-Whitman offered all three sales on schedule, the fiscal year total would have been almost 30 million board-feet, slightly higher than the target.
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