WAFC Forest Focus: Protests Prompt Withdrawn Sales
11/26/97
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Headline: WAFC Forest Focus: Protests Prompt Withdrawn Sales
Source: Western Ancient Forest Campaign
Date: 11/26/97
FOREST FOCUS, the bulletin of the Western Ancient Forest
Campaign, November 26, 1997 To reach us call (202)879-3188, fax
(202)879-3189, or email WAFCDC@igc.apc.org
LONG DRAW WITHDRAWN: In a victory for the environment and
concerned activists working to protect roadless areas threatened by
logging, the Forest Service has withdrawn the Record of Decision
(ROD) for the Long Draw timber sale on the Okanogan National Forest
in Washington State. After reviewing the sale, the Forest Service
regional office withdrew the ROD and instructed the Okanogan to
address a number of environmental concerns raised about the sale and
to issue a new decision. "Unless the Clinton Administration acts to
cancel Long Draw, we know this sale will raise its ugly head again,"
said Brian Vincent, Conservation Director of the Northwest Ecosystem
Alliance. "This sale, which would cut into the heart of one our
nation's most sacred places, should be stopped."
PROTESTS PROMPT WITHDRAWN SALES: An article in today's
Seattle Post-Intelligencer noted that the withdrawal of the Long Draw
sale is "the latest sign that environmentalists' opposition is slowing
timber cutting in roadless forests on federal lands." Citing the
withdrawal of the Pelican Butte sale by the Winema NF, "The deferrals
followed mail and phone protests from the public and cautions from
officials," said the Post-Intelligencer. "The governors of Oregon and
Washington have pressed the Forest Service to go slowly in roadless
areas. Senior Forest Service officials have agreed and President
Clinton said November 14 that his administration is drafting a new
policy on harvests in roadless areas."
SW SALVAGE SALE WITHDRAWN: In response to an appeal by
the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity, the Lincoln National
Forest (NM) has withdrawn the Sunspot salvage timber sale.
Supposedly designed to "control" a round-headed pine beetle
infestation, the sale would log large live trees, including crucial habitat
for the threatened Mexican spotted owl. Exploiting a loophole in
Forest Service regulations, the Forest planned the sale to be just under
one million board feet, thereby claiming no environmental analysis is
necessary. The regulations, however, say that an environmental
analysis is required if threatened or endangered species are present.
ONE FOR THE WOODLANDS: "Administration is wise to junk a
plan allowing excessive logging," said a November 24 editorial by the
Los Angeles Times. The plan affects long-term management for ten
National Forests in the Sierra Nevada. An independent study team of
11 experts found that the Forest Service plan allowed levels of logging
that were as much as 40% too high for the overall health of the
environment. "The severe degradation of the Sierra environment has
been well documented," said the Times. "It is caused by logging as
well as livestock grazing and real estate development. In its recent
decision, the Clinton Administration happily did not fail to see the
forest for the trees."
Thanks for all your efforts and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Steve Holmer
Campaign Coordinator
Western Ancient Forest Campaign
1025 Vermont Ave. NW 3rd Floor
Washington, D.C. 20005
202/879-3188
202/879-3189 fax
wafcdc@igc.org