Sentient Times Dec/Jan 06

Logging is Not Restoration

By Lesley Adams

In early November, Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR) and Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA) introduced a bill that would promote aggressive logging after natural disturbances under the guise of restoration. The “Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act,” or FERRA, would increase harmful and controversial logging while sidestepping public involvement and dismissing protections for water quality, old-growth forests and roadless areas. In late November, Republican Senator Gordon Smith introduced a similar bill in the Senate. Consistent with the Orwellian style that we have become so familiar with, Senator Smith named his bill the “Forests for Future Generations Act.”

Scientific research demonstrates that trees left standing after a natural disturbance are vitally important to forest recovery. These “legacy trees” help stabilize soils, provide shade and shelter for fish and wildlife and supply nutrients for tomorrow’s forests. Post-fire logging hinders natural recovery, intensifies erosion, amplifies the spread of invasive weeds and disease, and can increase the risk of future fires, putting communities at greater risk by redirecting fire protection funding to post-fire logging projects.

Both Walden’s and Smith’s legislation would reinforce the timber industry’s dubious entitlement claims to our public lands, thereby encouraging further degradation of federal forests. After a fire, windstorm or other natural event, a forest ecosystem is more sensitive because it has just gone through a significant disturbance. Many scientists agree that salvage logging is an extremely destructive type of logging, yet Walden proposes to force its use, with little legal recourse.

FERRA sacrifices the health of the land to give timber companies increased access to public forests while weakening the public’s ability to participate in the decisions affecting their forests. We saw tragic abuses at the Biscuit salvage logging project—inexcusable illegal logging of green trees, the Kalmiopsis Wilderness Area and the beloved Babyfoot Botanical Area. These admitted mistakes exemplify the need for more oversight of public lands, not less.

A stronger scientific and collaborative approach to maintaining the health of our public forests after natural disturbances can be found in Rep. Tom Udall’s National Forests Rehabilitation and Recovery Act of 2005. This legislation allows local stakeholders to join together to create sensible long-term restoration plans that protect communities from future wildfires, create jobs, restore fish and wildlife habitat, and safe-guard old-growth and roadless forests.

Oregon residents please call Senator Ron Wyden and ask that he oppose Senator Smith’s bill (S2079). Ask that Senator Wyden advocate for a more sensible approach to public forest management by supporting collaborative public process and non-controversial restoration forestry. Senator Wyden can be reached at (541) 858-5122 and 310 West 6th St., Rm 118, Medford, OR 97501. Please write letters to the editor of your local newspaper stating that logging is not restoration, and challenge lawmakers to develop unifying forest policies that create jobs and genuinely restore public forests. For more information, sample letters and talking points, visit www.kswild.org.

Lesley Adams is the Outreach Coordinator for the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center, a non-profit conservation organization protecting the outstanding biological diversity of northwest California and southwest Oregon. She can be reached at lesley@kswild.org.