Hi-

There is a proposed timber project on the hills above the Sanctuary at Wolf Creek by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management, or Bureau of Large Mistakes). The link for it is here: www.blm.gov/or/districts...lfPupScop.pdf

The proposed logging area is in the entire watershed above the Sanctuary property. This includes our water rights on a small tributary of Wolf Creek (which we call the Spring System). The water right will probably have the most impact in determining the actions that the BLM ultimately takes concerning the proposed management activity.

NOTE: The State, which grants water rights, had no knowledge of our water right in planning the proposed State logging sale last year. Two different offices – Forestry and DEQ, and they appear not to be in sync. FOR SURE, BLM has no record of our water right. Spiral is going to send them a copy of it.

The plan is not just about logging. Included in it are some actions that will benefit the watershed. From my reading of the proposal, there are a couple worth mentioning. First of all is the lessening of fire danger. People may have forgotten, but there was a major forest fire that was totally out of control for several weeks less than 30 miles from the Sanctuary, the Biscuit Fire in 2002. It was huge – burning in a mosaic pattern over parts of a hundred square mile area.

At least in part, the Fire spread due to fire prevention in the last century. Historically forests had small, low level ground fires every 10 – 20 years. Since the complete suppression of all fires, the ground level fires have not burned out all of the plants that would have been removed naturally. This has led to a buildup of plants, all competing for sunlight and water, and creating a dangerous fire conditions. Stressed plants are more susceptible to fire, and there is a continuous “ladder” of fire fuel from the floor of the forest to the tops of the tallest trees.

This proposal seeks to address some of that by removing ladder fuels from the project area. On a side note, the areas in the Biscuit Fire that were managed in this way suffered less catastrophic effects than non-managed areas. The second benefit that I see is that ground water will increase in the watershed because the over-stocking of plants will be gone, and those areas of the watershed that need more water – riparian zones, fish, aquatic invertebrates – will have the water that would have been absorbed by the plants.

There are drawbacks to the proposal, too, and I am not trying to paint a two dimensional yes/no portrait of the plan. The phrase used the in the plan “overstory removal” means cutting the largest trees. In short, the BLM is trying to make some money from the sales. The contractors who bid on the sales from this project also are trying to make some money. Despite high lumber prices, that means taking a lot of big trees. And as cheaply as possible. This is a place where we can have some impact. There are several methods of logging mentioned in the plan. The cheapest is chain logging, where all the trees are dragged uphill, causing massive amounts of disturbance in steep slopes with erosive soil. A more benign way is to remove the trees by helicopter, which, of course, is very expensive.

It's not just the removal of trees that will affect the watershed, a more dangerous condition will be the erosion. Any benefit from having more water available would be more than wiped out by clogging it with tons of silt.

What can you do about this? Write a letter to the BLM. Ask a lot of questions – make THEM explain what the different types of logging are and how they affect the environment. Ask THEM what protections they will have for our water right. Be excruciatingly polite.

Here are the contact names and addresses:

Katrina Symons (for comments) and Michelle Calvert (for questions)
BLM Glendale Resource Area
2164 NE Spalding
Grants Pass, OR 97526

INCLUDE THIS REFERENCE: 1790 (OR-118). Be sure to request a reply.

Or call them at 541-471-6505. If you call, I encourage you to write a letter also. Creating a written trail is vital in dealing with a bureaucracy such as the BLM. If even 10 letters needing replies are received, it will create a major headache in some Federal workers life, and have an impact in Agency decision making.

Remember it is not a done deal yet. The impact we can have on the eventual process will never be higher than it is at this moment. Fritz and I were pretty successful at stalling the proposed State logging project last year just by communicating with staff from their office.

Be pro-active! Be Fabulous!
Rula