Hardesty Mountain wilderness raises feud
By Thomas Henderson
Of the Emerald
There once was a
149,000-acre lot of untouched
forest in the Hardesty-Mount
June Wilderness southeast of
Eugene. Today, all that remain
are 7,000 acres and a bitter feud
between conservationists and
the U.S. Forest Service.
Although Hardesty Mountain
was included as wilderness by
the U.S. House of Represen
tatives in the recently passed
Oregon Wilderness Bill, it was
removed in the Senate and final
compromise versions.
Controversy arose when the
Hardesty-Mount Wilderness
Council, a coalition of such con
servation groups as the Oregon
Natural Resources Council, Na
tional Wildlife Federation, Ob
sidians, the University Survival
Center and others, began
meeting with the forest service
to discuss proposed timber sales
in the area.
According to Andy Kerr of
the ONRC, the forest service in
itially seemed receptive to con
cerns for preserving Hardesty
Mountain as wilderness area
and agreed to hold off timber
sales until the completion of a
comprehensive plan for the
forest.
However, the forest service
already has signed a contract for
32 acres of the area to be clear
cut, with logging set to begin
early this week, Kerr said.
In a press conference Mon
day, Kerr charged the forest ser
vice with violation of both the
National Forest Management
Plan and the National Environ
ment Policy Act and said the
wilderness council would be fil
ing a lawsuit in federal court to
day to obtain a restraining order
against any further logging.
The forest service maintains
the clear-cutting is necessary
because a wind storm blew
down a number of trees,
creating a breeding ground for
potentially hazardous Douglas
Fir bark beetles.
Conservationists claim if the
area were treated as wilderness,
nature would resolve the bark
beetle problem itself. If not,
they say pheromone traps affec
ting the insects’ reproduction
ability could solve the problem
without harming the forest.
However, Ron Humphrey, a
forest service district ranger in
the Hardesty Mountain area,
said the success of pheromone
traps is speculative, as they
have never been used on a large
scale.
In addition, the beetles must
not be allowed to damage
potential timber sales so long as
the land has been designated for
multi-purpose use by the
federal government, Humphrey
said.
Conservationists, with the ex
ception of a few groups like the
Sierra Club, are not satisfied
with the forest service response.
Survival Center Director Doug
Norlen said the bark beetle pro
blem is merely an excuse to con
tinue shrinking the already
minimal Hardesty Mountain
wilderness area.
Hardesty Mountain is the
closest wilderness area to the
University community, he said,
and is an invaluable resource
for scientific and recreational
use.
“The public pressure (to
preserve the area) has been
there for years.” he added, “but
they've chosen to ignore it
because they’re an outlaw
agency.”
Extensive logging of the area
will pose a further threat to such
already endangered species as
the wolverine and spotted owl,
Norlen said. Although logged
areas are replanted, the
resulting uniformity of trees
and environment is incompati
ble with the needs of the
animals, he added.
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Page 6, Section A
Future of trees debated
By Cynthia Whitfield
Of the Emerald
In order to widen West Sixth and Seventh
avenues, the City of Eugene plans to remove six
90-year-old maple trees. But Ballot Measure 52
seeks to save the trees by requiring voter approval
of such street projects. 4 . .
The Survival Center brought supporters of both
sides of the issue to. campus Monday, and the
lines of disagreement were sharply drawn.
City Councilor John. Ball argued against °the
measure, which would amend the city’s charter '
to make the. removal of any historic street trees
within the city’s 191.5 boundaries, more difficult.
Ball contended that the old maples need to come
out because “the streets are unsafe and
inefficient.” ’ . •
But John Silverman,.a U..S.- Forest Service ar
cheologist and.one of the main organiziers of the’ •
measure, asserts that the public is generally op- .
posed to cutting down the trees.
“Last January, the City Council decreed that
Sixth and Seventh avenues should be widened to
four lanes through the heart of town,” Silverman'
said. “That decision came despite opposition by
the Eugene Downtown Commission, four of the
seven members of the council-appointed Design
Review Committee and the overwhelming majori
ty of people at three public hearings.”
Ball countered that the plan is necessary and
that it already has been modified because of
-citizen input. He said the new plan calls for the
removal of six trees instead of the original .17, as
well.as new tree planting.
.'‘Years go into. the." development of these
plans,” Ball said, “If we impose the possibility of'
a. last-minute veto —: if at the last minute we •
might Vote against •such plans — the state won’t
want to provide us with funds.” .
But Silverman insisted that the'State-is-being ”
unfair in its plans’.to go-ahead with the project.
.'."•The state is now going ahead with the
development. . .as a limited-access arterial, even
though the current city charter requires voter apr
prova'l of freeways and.'Iimited access arterials,”
he said. He'argiied that many people find Eugene
attractive' because the city- has managed to *
. “escape.'urban decay and environmental demise .
caused by street widening,';' '
/• Ball, a. 1976 University-graduate and former
member of the Survival Center,.said-he, too, is
committed to environmental issues.
“The state is finally willing to pay*attention to
us after years of avoiding us like the plague.” Ball
said. “We were able to get their trust.again. If
we’re going to expand we have to have an arterial
system.and, more important, safety."
Long discusses nuclear arms
Douglas County Commis
sioner Bruce Long visited cam
pus Monday night to discuss
how the American public views
nuclear weapons.
Long, the Republican con
gressional candidate for the 4th
District, said that it was one of.
his first opportunities to ad
dress the issue of nuclear arms
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during his campaign. Long is
running against incumbent
Democrat Jim Weaver- in the
Nov. 6 election.
“Today there is a serious
misconception of U.S. policy
(on nuclear weapons).” Long
said. Most people believe that
the United States would never
use nuclear weapons on a first
attack basis, he said.
According to l/ong, current
U.S. policy advocates using
nuclear weapons to counter a
Soviet first strike or a large
Soviet conventional invasion of
the United States or its allies.
“It is the modernization issue
that concerns me most,” Long
said.
He explained that because the
amount of time required for a
nuclear missile to reach its
destination is decreasing — it’s
now only 30 minutes — the
Soviet Union and the United
States are increasingly relying
on computers to make impor
tant launch decisions. Thus, a
computer foul-up could easily
ignite a nuclear holocaust.
Long fielded questions from a
panel and from the audience.
He emphasized that people
must come to an understanding
of U.S. nuclear arms policy.
“There’s much 1 don't know
about,” he conceded.
The event was sponsored by
the University Arms Control
Forum.
Tuesday, October 23, 1984