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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 22, 1993)
Roberts: Timber plan upsets all WASHINGTON (AIM President Clinton appears to t>e well on Hi's way to finding a North west forest solution that will upset loggers and environmentalists alike. Oregon Gov Barbara Roberts said Monday "At the timber conference, the president said. If we do this right, everyone will lx* mail I think they may have sin i eeded." Roberts said Roberts met with Vn e President Al Core and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt in separate ses sums Monday to get an update on the administra tion's efforts to find a Northwest compromise "I think it is t tear the president is involved in the pro< ess at this point in lime I don't think a decision has been made yet. Roberts told reporters after meeting w ith Babbitt Roberts, a first-term Domoi rat. said the loss of limber jobs is unavoidable under any of the man agement alternatives being considered, but that the timber industry is grossly exaggerating the imp«< t One industry estimate put the job loss in excess of HO.D00 if timber harvests fall as low ns 1 2 bil lion Ixwrd feet on federal lands in Western Oregon, western Washington and Northern California "We are not going to lose HO (too jobs in Oregon under any one of the i ompnnents of tins plan. Roberts said "I think we (ould sa\ without reservation there will be jobs lost as a result of the plan I don t Itelieve there is any wav to meet si ientifn i rede bilily and honesty and still protet t all of the |obs that are part of the industry now." she said I'lie governor said timber communities in her state "have a reason to tx> fearful." "We are talking about an industry that has Ihhui a major, and in some < uses the only, employer in some communities This is a very difficult period for those communities," she said Roberts said it is possible to resume some log ging in the region without securing an exemption to environmental lows, whii li is one of the options reportedly under consideration Liter. .1 f?or a meeting with Rep Ron Wyden. D Ore . Roberts told reporters, "There are some pus <*s ! still don't have details on "It will he knowing those details — know ing what the final m lentifu pint es look like, knowing w hat the final ei onornn piei es look like that w ill determine tm final comfort level." she said Wyden and Roberts said they would l>e working to bolster limber-related jobs that don't dejMtnd on such high levels of harvests Wyden said he is not interested solely in retraining workers "We don’t at < ept the idea ol the federal govern ment tolling into timber-dependent < ommnnities ami saving. 'Okay, everybody here is going to liei omt <1 1 ompsiter jockey.'" Wyden said Roberts said the timber harvest levels of the I'tHOs "are < learlv unrealistic. partii ularly with the news lost week that there have been some discrepnn i ics for a numlier of years in the numlwir of avail able acres of harvest in Oregon and Washington." Rolierts was referring a report Oregon State Uni versity forest economist K Norman Johnson pre pared for President (Hinton, which said harvest potential was greatly exaggerated in the 1‘1‘iOs for est plans for 17 national forests in Oregon and Washington Ai i ording to the memo obtained by Hie Ore gonian newspajMir. the Willamette National Forest plan overstated the amount of timtier that could lie sold In 40 pen ent. and the I !mp<|ua National For te,! plait overestnnaUHl its potential limiter yield by 30 percent Leaders of two dozen environmental groups asked Attorney General Janet Reno on Monday to investigate possible criminal wrongdoing by For est Serv ice of fit ia!s in arriving at those estimates "It is i tear that this w as done to justify unsus tainahiy high levels of timber* idling on the forests in violation of the National Forest Management Ai t and other federal laws." said Larry Tuttle, exei utive director of the (Iregon Natural Kesoun es Council. Eugene man looses drug-test appeal WASHINGTON (AIM A Federal Aviation Administrn lion tm hni( inn from Fugone, Ore . who was fired for refusing to lake a drug test, lost a Supreme Court appeal Monday Without comment. the t our! let stand the dismissal of Gerald Watson )r. Watson was an electronics lei him inn at an KAA field office in Kugene that installed and maintained navigation and air traffic control equipment. On Aug. IH, 1‘tHH. he was summoned for a random drug test required under the govern ment's ' drug-free federal work plaie" policy. Watson consulted a lawyer, who told him the was illegal Ix-i ouse n federal appeals court had barred posi-ac< idenl drug lusting of railway employees unless offi< mis had reason to believe a worker was using drugs. Thai ruling later was reversed by the Supreme tanirt Watson refused to take the drug test, although he went to a private clinic and underwent a test that showed no drug use The FAA's regional manager suspended Watson. He was fired thi* following Ik* ember. An administrative judge for the Merit Ns stems Protection Hoard red in <iii tin- penalty to a 45-day suspension and ordered Watson reinstated with bai F pay The agency abused its discretion in removing Watson, the judge said. The full Merit Systems Pro tection Board. however, reversed and ordered Watson fired The l: S Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld the firing last year. In the appeal a< ted on Mon day. Watson's lawyers said the hoard should have deferred to the administrative judge's eval uation of the regional manager's testimony Develop your Summer Tan! 342-3456 Mon-Frl 10am-6pm Sat loam-5pm 890 E. 13th • Across from U of 0 Bookstore Legislator denies harassment charges SALEM (AP) — State Sen Rod Johnson denied I he latest sex harassment allegations against him Monday and said his oppo nents are lining up "phantom accusers" to make new charges, "The efforts of the people behind this attack are reminis cent of the McCarthy ism of the 1950s and are despicable," the Rnseburg Republican said at a news conference Johnson, arc ompanied by his wife, Cathy, read a prepared statement but declined to answer reporters' questions about who might In* behind such an effort against him. A spokeswoman for the Women's Rights Coalition called Johnson's assertion about being the victim of a "witch hunt" absurd and said that Johnson was only trying to divert attention from his own inappropriate conduct Over the weekend. 7/ie Register-Guard newspaper in Eugene reported that three more current or former legislative employ ee's have said they were the target of unwanted sexual advances or inappropriate conduct by Johnson None of the three women would agree to lie identified in the newspaper story. Two other women earlier made similar accusations against tin* PJ-year-oid Rnseburg senator. One of them. Michelle Mitchell, a former Johnson staffer, confronted the senator as he was leaving the news conference. "You’re a liar." Mitchell told Johnson. "You are the liar." Johnson shot liack. In May. lohnson apologized for "inappropriate comments” in- made to Mitchell hut continued to deny her allegations that he made unwelcome sexual advances while the two were on a business trip. Meanwhile, the majority Democrats in the Senate announced plans to meet Tuesday to discuss possible disciplinary action against Johnson. Senate Majority Lender Dick Springer said the latest allega tions against Johnson "certainly seem consistent with what we've heard from other women vvho've been employed by the Legislature." "if these allegations are true, and 1 have no reason to doubt them, then we've got an obligation to weigh some very serious sanctions, including a possible censure,” the Portland Demo crat said. Tho controversy over Johnson s reported harassment ol women working around him also threatened to become the source of a partisan squabble in what already has been a con tentious legislative session Springer said the latest aci usations involved conduct by Johnson when he was serving in the Republican-controlled House in 1991. For that reason. Springer said. House Speaker Larry ('.ainpbell and other House Republicans should conduct their own investigation of Johnson "It happened on their watch and involved their own mem ber." Springer said. "There's no question they should l»e look ing at this " Osn Jarman, a spokesman for Campbell, said that tho speak er's office never received a complaint against Johnson while the Koseburg lawmaker was serving in the House "If we would have, we would have dealt with it and taken immediate action." Jarman said. At this point, the House's internal rules preclude it from investigating conduct that’s nearly two years old. he said. "Even if we could get involved at this time, we would have no authority over Sen Johnson since he doesn't belong to this body," Jarman added. , /sr///r6 Jumr25 July 10 50% UO student discount 687-5000 HuItOn»* Oregon Bach Festival The fun is Bach!