AUGUST 2008: AROUND THE STATE
Wyden’s forest plan hopes to bridge extremes
PORTLAND
Sen. Ron Wyden has proposed a strategy to break free from what
he labels the “dysfunctional and dangerous”
management of federal forestlands in Oregon and clear the way
for doubling the timber harvest.
Long mired in battles between industry and environmental
groups, federal harvests have been sharply curtailed over the
past several decades. That has created a tinderbox that is the
“single greatest threat to communities and private land
owners,” says Wyden’s chief of staff, Josh Kardon.
“By putting this forward now and showing that he is
willing to take some risks, Ron hopes to send a signal to the
next president that there is a third path that avoids the old
forest politics of the last two decades that can move us
forward ecologically and economically.”
Wyden’s plan calls for protecting old-growth trees while
allowing logging that is environmentally sound and helps reduce
fire danger. The plan, now in the public comment period before
the formal bill is written, was developed with the help of the
Nature Conservancy, two forest scientists and four industry
leaders. When it was unveiled in late June, the industry
leaders were noticeably absent from public support of the plan.
Kardon, who declined to identify those participants, says their
concerns were about the old-growth protection.
Wyden’s plan calls for no logging of trees older that
120 years in wet forests, and no logging of trees more than 150
years old in dry forests. It also bans clear-cutting. (The
entire proposal can be found at
wyden.senate.gov/forestproposal.) Kardon says talks are
continuing with a broader group of timber industry people, and
adds that environmental groups have commented that the
plan’s forest protection isn’t strong enough.
And that’s just the kind of debate that has raged for
decades.
“At some point you’ve got to figure out how to
move forward,” says Kardon. “It’s not going
to be anyone’s perfect bill. But we hope that all sides
will realize that continuing in the fashion of the past two
decades is going to lead to ruin for both sides.”
ROBIN DOUSSARD
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