Coalition works
to save forests
By STEVE KNIGHT
OlhEamU
Mixing politics with back
packing may be one way to de
scribe the workings of the
Oregon Wilderness Coalition
OWC is a statewide environ
mental organization dedicated
to saving Oregon’s remaining
virgin forests from the ax The
group has more than 2.000 in
dividual members and 75
member organizations from
Coast Creek Wilderness Com
mittee in Yachats to Strawberry
Mountain Forever an environ
mental group based in John
Day
Andy Kerr. OWC s associate
director tor conservation says
only a fraction of Oregon's
publicly owned national forests
■ is set aside as wilderness An
p ti-wilderness propaganda from
the timber industry is one of the
mam reasons why Oregon has
less land protected in its natural
state than any other western
state, he says
The (timber) industry would
have us believe their very sur
vival is dependent on logging
every last acre,' Kerr says
Currently. 95 percent of
Oregon's harvestable forests is
open to logging operations,
white only 2 percent is protected
as wilderness The remaining 2
percent lies at the heart of the
battle between environmen
talists and the timber industry,
Kerr says
"If the timber industry can't
make it on 95 percent, it is highly
doubtful they can make it on 98
percent." Kerr maintains
Kerr also blames the Forest
Service — the federal agency
that administers the national
forests — for the small percen
tage of Oregon land set aside as
wilderness
80 to 85 percent of the
I Forest Service s budget goes to
timber production,' he says
But the fight for wilderness is
more than a struggle by OWC to
save old-growth forests for the
aesthetic benefit of back
packers, Kerr says
Wilderness recreation is but
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one of the goals of our organ
ization,” he says "We are
equally concerned about the
other multiple uses wilderness
provides such as clean water,
wildlife habitat and anadromous
fishenes ’
Current logging practices are
silting up streams and destroy
ing the habitats of many endan
gered species. Kerr says If
more wilderness isn't pre
served he predicts "hundreds
of miles of trails will be de
stroyed and wildlife species
such as elk spotted owls and
native runs of salmon and steel
head will' all be gone in the next
15 years "
The OWC currently is lobby
ing for an Oregon Wilderness
bill that Kerr says he hopes will
protect the remnant” low
elevation old-growth forests in
the western Cascades and
Coast Range Much of the con
gressionally designated wilder
nesses in Oregon is located in
steep mountainous terrain that
the timber companies never
wanted anyway , ” Kerr says
However, he says that a
wilderness bill at this time would
encounter stiff opposition from
the pro-business, anti-conser
vationist" climate in Washing
ton. DC
Only a grassroots effort by the
people of Oregon can save the
remaining de facto wilderness
areas in the state, he says
Students can receive credit for
doing volunteer work with the
OWC staff by arrangement
through the Survival Center,
Kerr says For more information
call 344-0675
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