Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center's topics - tribe.net

Protesters cheer lack of timber sales

c-h-a-d — Sat, 01 Oct 2005 15:15:22 GMT

Protesters cheer lack of timber sales
By PARIS ACHEN
Mail Tribune

Half of six timber projects auctioned Thursday by the Medford District of the Bureau of Land Management failed to attract bidders.

About 90 protesters cheered outside the BLM office at 3040 Biddle Road when officials announced the Bald Lick, Dead Man’s Palm and Slick Sand projects did not sell in the agency’s final auction of the year.

"We heard from the timber companies that the projects were economically challenged," said John Gerritsma, BLM Ashland field manager.

In contrast, a bidding war ensued between three timber companies for the controversial South Deer sale just outside Selma before Murphy Co. won the project for $524,000, 41 percent more than the appraised value.

Murphy Co. bought the 800-acre Camp Cur project 18 miles northeast of Butte Falls for the appraised value of $1.4 million and the 337-acre Pickett Charge project just west of Grants Pass for $407,200, about 17 percent above the appraisal.

Gerritsma said the low volume of timber and high amount of required helicopter yarding made the Bald Lick, Dead Man’s Palm and Slick Sand projects unappealing.

Removing trees by helicopter is significantly more expensive than building roads to truck out timber because of fuel spikes and high insurance premiums, he said.

He said the projects would likely be revised before returning to the auction block. Revisions usually involve the BLM, community members and the timber industry, he said.

That is good news for the Little Applegate Neighborhood Network, a group of residents staunchly opposed to the 2,147-acre Bald Lick project about 5 miles south of Ruch.

"We would support this project if the BLM would (reduce) the number of trees removed, use methods that don’t involve new roads and helicopter landing sites and have an upper diameter limit," said Peter Salant, owner of a 109-acre cattle ranch in the Little Applegate watershed. "We don’t want them to take big trees."

Residents with Friends of Deer Creek Valley, who demonstrated against the 378-acre South Deer timber sale, said the project targets old trees and will damage overall forest health.

"It’s going to take our last old forests," said Mary Camp of the Friends of Deer Creek Valley. "They did it because of the timber volume they have to get out."

The project includes treating about 7 percent of the land with a method developed by Mary Camp’s husband, Orville Camp. The natural selection approach involves falling only dead and dying trees.

"Even though we appreciate what the BLM gave us, it was too small," Mary Camp said. "It’s not going to be what we need to be a viable community."

The other 93 percent of the land in the sale will be subject to overall thinning through falling trees, burning and mechanical chipping.

Mary Camp said that approach will degrade the community’s economy, environment and water quality.

Abbie Jossie, BLM Grants Pass field manager, said she disagrees.

"We need to thin out trees that are competing with larger trees to maintain the late-successional forest," Jossie said. She said the thinning will also reduce the severity of wildfires.

Timber sales
# Bald Lick

Harvest - 12.8 million board feet

Price- n/a

Buyer - none

Number of bidders - none

# Camp Cur

Harvest - 5.7 million board feet

Price - $1.4 million

Buyer - Murphy Co.

Number of bidders - 1

# Deadman’s Palm

Harvest - 5.3 million board feet

Price - n/a

Buyer - none

Number of bidders - none

# Pickett Charge

Harvest - 2.5 million board feet

Price - $407,200

Buyer - Murphy Co.

Number of bidders - 2

# South Deer

Harvest - 2.9 million board feet

Price - $524,000

Buyer - Murphy Co.

Number of bidders - 3

# Slick Sand

Harvest - 1.7 million board feet

Price - n/a

Buyer- none

Number of bidders - none

Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4496 or e-mail pachen@mailtribune.com.

Find out what's going on with the North and South Interchanges!

posted in Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center - 0 replies

Stop Bald Lick website.

c-h-a-d — Tue, 20 Sep 2005 23:50:12 GMT

Please check out this website for current events.
http://www.stopbaldlick.com/
cheers

posted in Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center - 0 replies

Help Stop the Bald Lick Timber Sale

c-h-a-d — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:57:21 GMT

This sale would devastate the surrounding areas of Birch Creek, thrashing the watershed and ruing the natural beauty and way of life! Please use the letter below, personalize, and send to the BLM by August 8th.
Thank you.

August 7, 2005

Kristi Mastrofini
Ashland Resource Area, Medford BLM
3040 Biddle Rd.
Medford, OR 97504

Dear Ms. Mastrofini,

I am concerned about logging and road-building in the Little Applegate Valley as
currently proposed by the Medford BLM. These are my comments on the Environmental
Assessment for the "Bald Lick Landscape Project."

I believe that a project of this size and scope requires more time than the 30-day public
review period that ends on August 8. In addition to inadequate time for review, I believe
that the proposed project has enormous potential for significant environmental impacts in
the Little Applegate watershed, therefore an Environmental Impact Statement is required.

Non-controversial fuels reduction treatments in the project area have moved forward
unopposed, and have been implemented throughout the last year. While some fuels reduction
work in the Little Applegate is appropriate, logging older forests and building roads is
not. In fact, is it against what most Americans want for their public lands.

Large trees and forest canopy closure greater than 60% provide disproportionate values
for wildlife and recreation, as well as provide the least likely forest type to
experience hot fires. Reducing the forest canopy and building roads will increase fire
risk in an already arid valley. Increased roads will result in increased OHV use, noise,
dust, and the spread of noxious weeds. I strongly encourage the BLM to maintain older
forest structure throughout the Little Applegate and to not build any additional roads in
the Little Applegate and Applegate-McKee watersheds.

The Little Applegate Valley boasts important recreational values for residents of the
Applegate and Rogue Valleys, as well as for tourists who travel from far away to enjoy
the scenic beauty of our region. I strongly encourage the BLM to stay out of roadless
areas and critical habitat for the threatened Northern Spotted Owl, and to protect
invaluable aquatic resources.

Please focus on treating dense plantations and other genuine forest health projects (like
fuels reduction near homes, improving spawning habitat, replacing culverts, and
obliterating defunct roads).

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing your response.

Sincerely,

Birch Creek Arts & Ecology Center's topics - tribe.net

Protesters cheer lack of timber sales

Stop Bald Lick website.

Help Stop the Bald Lick Timber Sale

Check out the website