Counties want to remake Ore. forest plan

Counties want to remake Ore. forest plan

	Published : Wed, 21 Mar 2007 17:22 By : Agencies Print this Story

SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Officials from Coast Range counties asked lawmakers Tuesday to rework the state forest management plan so more timber can be taken from the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests.

The current management plan, adopted in 2003 and endorsed by conservation, industry and government agencies, was created so state forests could satisfy a wide range of demands -- from family wage logging jobs to mountain bike trails to healthy salmon habitats.

But the amount of timber that loggers could cut -- and the revenue that local governments anticipated -- has turned out to be less than initial estimates, and county and industry groups are now trying to overhaul the management framework.

Tim Josi, a commissioner from Tillamook County, said the current system, implemented by the Department of Forestry, isn't generating enough cash for counties.

'What they need is some statutory direction,' Josi said. 'That's how we came up with this bill. These lands are to be used primarily to produce revenue for the trust counties.'

Tillamook and Clatsop counties contain more than 500,000 acres of state forest.

In 2003, scientists used satellite photos to estimate that 279 million board feet could be harvested from the two state forests each year. But a subsequent study determined that the trees were growing at a slower rate than previously thought, and in 2007, the department authorized just 184 million board feet to be cut.

The reduction has cost the counties $36.5 million, Josi said. He said there's only one way to make up the lost money -- increase the annual timber cut.

But environmentalists say the current amount of logging threatens wildlife habitat, clean water and millions of tourist dollars that are generated by people drawn to Oregon by its fish and wildlife.

In the 1930s, 40s and 50s, a series of forest fires swept through Oregon, ravaging thousands of acres of old growth trees. A massive restoration project was implemented and much of Oregon's temperate rainforest and restored watersheds are a result of this effort.

Bob Rees, a fishing guide from Tillamook, said he opposed the bill because increased logging threatens the streams and rivers that salmon use for spawning. Cutting trees too close to waterways can decrease shade and make water temperatures rise, which can be deadly for fish.

'Wild runs of salmon in the Tillamook are at critically low levels,' said Rees, a former field biologist for Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. 'The ability of sport anglers to harvest salmon has been reduced to the point where now, we can only harvest one species of the six wild runs of salmonids that return to the north coast -- the fall Chinook.'

Despite habitats that have suffered heavily from logging in the past, the fishing industry generated more than a half-billion dollars for Oregon's economy in 2002, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

According to a 2003 economic study by Philip Ruder, a professor at Pacific University, recreational and tourist opportunities in Tillamook and Clatsop state forests are 'largely untapped due to management policies that emphasize commercial timber production over providing recreation opportunities.'