New 3,500 Acre BLM Old-Growth Sale
Snag Lover, 25.07.2006 10:27
The Glendale Resource Area is single-handedly trying to drive the Owl and Coho into extinction.
At-Risk Ancient Forests
MEDFORD BLM PROPOSES THE LARGEST GREEN OLD-GROWTH TIMBER SALE OF MODERN TIMES
The Glendale Resource Area of the Medford BLM is proposing to return to the un-sustainable dark ages of old-growth logging. While responsible land mangers in many Western States have embraced small-diameter thinning projects that may reduce fire danger while responsibly producing wood fiber, the Glendale Resource Area wants to return to the days of clearcuts and controversy.
The Westside timber sale calls for logging ancient forests in the Middle Cow Creek Watershed. Currently the Middle Cow Creek provides habitat for coho and steelhead as well as resident cutthroat and rainbow trout while Spotted Owls and rare salamanders rely on the remaining ancient forests.
THE WESTSIDE TIMBER SALE TARGETS 3,374 ACRES FOR LOGGING
The recently released Westside Timber Sale Environmental Assessment calls for massive levels of old-growth logging that has nothing to do with fuels reduction or healthy forests:
• Westside would log 3,374 acres in 93 units in the Middle Cow Creek Watershed.
• 1,515 of the logging would occur in old-growth forests that would be logged via “regeneration” (clearcuts that leave only 6-8 trees per acre), all of which are Spotted Owl Suitable Habitat. After “regeneration” the stands would be converted into industrial fiber plantations.
• 1,019 acres of Spotted Owl Critical Habitat will be downgraded or removed. Critical Habitat Unit OR-32 is the Rogue-Umpqua Area of Concern which "provides an essential link in connecting the Western Cascades Province with southern portions of the Coast Ranges and the northern end of the Klamath Mountains Province." (USDA/USDI 2006 BA, App. B-18). "The land ownership patterns elevate the importance of maintaining owl nesting habitat to link the Western Cascades, Coast Ranges and the Klamath Provinces." (USDA/USDI 2006 BA, App. B-18).
• Over 10 miles of new logging road would need to be punched into the Middle Fork Cow Creek watershed to access the proposed logging units.
AN OLD-GROWTH SACRIFICE ZONE
The Glendale Resource Area is one of the major old-growth/Spotted Owl sacrifice zones of the Northwest Forest Plan. The BLM timber planners firmly believe that the O&C Act, and the Forest Plan, authorize and direct them to implement old-growth timber sales. The silvicultural prescription indicates that many of the stands are currently dominated by large ancient Douglas-fir trees.
