Is the long-awaited shift is USFS management policy finally here???? > > CHIEF DOMBECK DISMISSES REP. TAYLOR'S BOGUS > FOREST HEALTH REPORT > > At a June 19 hearing before the House Agriculture Committee > concerning Rep. Charles Taylor's "Report on Forest Health," Chief of > the Forest Service Michael Dombeck testified that "the report does not > adequately analyze fire, water, wildlife, and recreation issues. Before > we could evaluate the usefulness of the [report], these resource values > would need to be better incorporated," Dombeck said. The Chief also > rejected the report's implicit call for Congress to amend the ESA, > NEPA, and NFMA. "This Administration firmly believes that the > current legal framework under which the Forest Service operates has > worked well in serving the needs of the American people, while > protecting the environment," Dombeck testified. Rep. Bob Smith (R- > OR) plans to use Taylor's report as a basis for forest health legislation > to be introduced this fall. > > The Forest Service provided a more detailed written critique that > offered these conclusions: the title of the report is misleading because > it does not define forest health or assess forest health conditions across > the country; the report does not differentiate among various forest types > and their related fire disturbance size, intensity, periodicity and effect; > the report's implication that forest reserves are likely to be overrun > with insects, disease and fire is inaccurate for those forest ecosystems > adapted to infrequent disturbance; the report suggests that the > economic value of recreation is minimal, while Forest Service data > show that its value is rapidly increasing; and the report incorrectly > states that endangered species problems are primarily single species > problems. > > The Forest Service also offered their own assessment of > forest health which concluded "the nation's forests are generally in > a healthy condition. While each region does have a variety of > health concerns in need of attention, a listing of these concerns > should not be interpreted as a description of a forest health crisis." > Forest health concerns that were noted include: fire risk in the > rural-urban-wildlands interface; invasion by exotic forest insects, > disease organisms, and weeds; loss of biological diversity; and > weather and air pollution damage. The section on the Pacific > Northwest noted excessive fire suppression, logging and grazing in > the last century; the increased incidence of white pine blister and > Pt. Orford cedar root disease due to past forest management > practices; anadramous fish runs have been lost or drastically > reduced in many watersheds; and that habitat for species associated > with old growth ecosystems has been degraded and biological > diversity has been diminished. > > FOREST SERVICE ILLEGALLY SKIMMING MILLIONS OF > TAXPAYER DOLLARS EVERY YEAR > > The Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics is suing > the Forest Service for illegally diverting $73 million a year in timber > receipts. Instead of using the money from the Knudson-Vandenberg > Fund (KV) for restoring habitat and reforesting after timber sales as the > law allows, the Forest Service is using the funds for overhead and > salaries. Many reforestation and habitat-restoration projects are > unfunded because 36% of the money collected under the act is spent on > salaries, rents and phone bills. "Illegal use of these funds robs > taxpayers, hurts the health of the land, and it's all done for the sake of > fattening the Forest Service's budget," said FSEEE's director, Andy > Stahl. For more information about the abuse of off-budget slush funds > by the Forest Service contact FSEEE at 541/484-2692. > > SUGARLOAF PLAN REVEALS FOREST HEALTH/FIRE RISK > SCAM > > The Illinois Valley Ranger District has announced plans to burn > some 2,000 acres in and around the site of the 1995 Sugarloaf timber > sale. Though the sale area was 667 acres the Siskiyou National Forest > is proposing to burn additional acreage around the sale site located on > the slopes of 7,000 foot Grayback Mountain. Surprisingly, the Forest > Service is proposing to burn unlogged acres outside the logged forest > area. One justification they offered for the Sugarloaf timber sale was > that the forest would be destroyed if they underburned in their effort to > reintroduce fire to the ecosystem. But since most of area scheduled to > burn was not logged what happened to the Forest Service's concern? > > One look at the Sugarloaf sale provides the answer: for the most > part only the largest, fire resistant trees were cut. Fuel loads (dead and > down wood) within the logged areas are very high in comparison to > adjacent unlogged forest. Small understory trees which are the most > fire prone and can cause fire to "ladder up" into the crowns of larger > trees were left standing. "The Siskiyou National Forest had no real > concern about wildfire, only fabricated excuses for continued logging of > as much unprotected ancient forest as they can get away with," said > Steve Marsden of the Siskiyou Project. The Forest Service hopes to > begin burning sometime this fall. For more information please contact > the Siskiyou Project, 541/592-4459, siskiyou@igc.org, or go to: > www.siskiyou.org > > TOWER FIRE SALE THREATENS JOHN DAY RIVER/SPRING > CHINOOK > > Responding to last summer's Tower fire, the Umatilla National > Forest is planning to cut 30 million board feet from 4,200 acres of > ponderosa pine in watersheds draining directly into the North Fork John > Day River. According to ICBEMP, the John Day basin contains the > only remaining stronghold for wild spring chinook in the entire > Columbia Basin and one of the 2 remaining strongholds for wild > steelhead. A recent study cited in the EA for this sale (the Big Tower > sale) identified John Day's summer steelhead as the only healthy stocks > in the Columbia Basin. The N. Fork John Day produces 70% of the > John Day's spring chinook. Most of the harvest area is a "special fish > management area" under the UNF Forest Plan. Although the area is > already at least 15% recently clearcut, this salvage sale would cut > another 25-30%. This is steep, heavily roaded country and despite a > road density of 4 miles/sq. mile, the project would construct another 11 > miles of temporary road and reconstruct 7 miles. About half the area > contains soils with a high risk of erosion. For a copy of the EA > contact the Umatilla's John Day Ranger District: 541/427-3231. > Comments are due August 20. Please contact Karen Coulter, Blue > Mountain Biodiversity Project at 541/468-2028 for more information.
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