GardenBanter.co.uk - Logging on slopes up for vote

From The Oregonian, Jan. 24, 2003, p B4 (Metro)

Logging on slopes up for vote
Environmentalists protest as Oregon weighs whether to stop requiring
approval when landslides are a risk

By MICHAEL MILSTEIN, The Oregonian
The Oregon Board of Forestry on Monday will consider eliminating the
requirement that the state forester must approve logging on steep
slopes where landslides are a hazard.
The move comes in response to a federal court ruling in December that
said the state must ensure that private logging it approves under the
state Forest Practices Act complies with the tougher federal
Endangered Species Act.
State forestry officials charaterized the proposed rule change as a
shift in process that would not lower the environmental standards
outlined by the state act, which all logging operations must follow.
Conservation groups called it an end run around wildlife protections.
The groups filed the lawsuit that led to the December ruling. Their
suit alleged that the state regularly approves logging projects on
steep slopes and along rivers that harm coho salmon protected under
the Endangered Species Act.
"Instead of trying to address the problem, they're trying to avoid it
altogether," said Mary Scurlock of the Pacific Rivers Council.
An outline of the proposed rule drafted by the Oregon Department of
Forestry says the conservation groups are using the lawsuit "to reform
the policy judgments" of the Board of Forestry and the state
Legislature. It says the "ultimate goal" of the case is to make state
forestry officials enforce the federal endangered species act.
Loggers now must obtain state approval before they cut on steep
slopes prone to landslides, a safeguard meant to avoid cutting that
could accelerate erosion and trigger slides. The proposed rule would
eliminate that mandate without changing the basic logging standards
for such areas.
The change would break any "causal connection" between the state
forester's approval and alleged violations of the Endangered Species
Act, the department's outline says.
Loggers would have to make sure they comply with the law.
At a special meeting Monday in Salem, the Board of Forestry will hold
a closed session with attorneys and then consider the proposed rule.
No public comment will be permitted onthe proposal. State law allows
temporary rules to be enacted without public comment.
If approved, the rule would apply for six months. On Monday, the
board also will consider beginning the process for permanently
changing the rule.
In addition, board members will discuss hiring a state forester to
replace Jim Brown, who is resigning to become Gov. Ted Kulongoski's
natural resources adviser.
The public part of the meeting will begin at 2:30 p.m. at the
Cornerstone Place, 2809 Market St. N.E., in Salem.

Posted as a courtesy by
Daniel B. Wheeler
www.oregonwhitetruffles.com