Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Page A-3
BLM timber sale comment period open
Judy Hoyle
IVN Contributing Writer
The deadline for public
comments on a proposed Bureau of
Land Management (BLM) timber
sale is fast approaching. The Pickett
West Forest Management Project
will impact over 17,000 acres in
Josephine County.
Within the project area, 6,000
acres of low elevation forests will
be intensively logged throughout the
Rogue, Illinois and Applegate river
watersheds according to KS Wild
spokesperson Jeanine Moy.
“Pickett West is not a light-
touch restoration or thinning project.
Rather, it’s an old-school timber
‘grab’ that will harm wildlife and
watersheds,” Moy asserts. “Native
forests on public lands will lose much
of their canopy without protections
for old-growth or riparian areas.”
Moy explains that KS Wild
supports thinning of small trees
near homes and communities to
create defensible space for wildfire.
However, the group is concerned
that the only two alternatives being
considered, Alternative 2 and
Alternative 3, will actually increase
fire hazard by removing large fire-
resilient trees and will impact aquatic
life by cutting the size of streamside
forest buffers in half.
“We’re disappointed that
the BLM has done away with the
Applegate Adaptive Management
Area and that BLM timber planners
have not substantively involved
community members in project
planning,” Moy said. “Their
decision to abandon collaborative
forest restoration efforts in favor
of maximizing timber-volume is
shortsighted and does a disservice to
communities that depend on healthy
public lands.”
Selma residents Mary and
Orville Camp are also seeking others
willing to sign petitions and write
letters.
Mary Camp stated, “We in
the Deer Creek Association are
extremely concerned this project
will have significant and severe
consequences for these last remaining
natural ecosystems. Pickett West will
support the corporate timber industry
at the expense of everyone else.”
She cited the negative effects
the project will have on local
property values and quality of life,
water, wildlife habitat, recreation and
tourism. “We’re one of the last places
in Oregon that has real biodiversity,”
she said. “We need to leave old
growth intact. If you clear cut, you’ll
have a desert and no more jobs.”
Ernie Niemi, president of
Natural Resource Economics Inc.
further explained the harmfulness of
the proposal, “In the Draft Resource
Management Plan, the BLM showed
that climate costs would be twice
the value of the logs, but then it
inexplicably dismissed this finding
and proposed to increase logging.
Now that research shows the costs
are at least 60 times the value of the
logs, any future proposal to increase
logging would be reckless.”
In addition to the value of
intact forests for providing carbon
sequestration to slow climate change,
Deer Creek Grange News: by Darlene Anderson
On Friday and Saturday, June 23 and 24
the heat was blistering over 109 degrees in
Selma. This unusual heat wave did not hinder
the determination of Deer Creek Grange
members to have their new metal roof installed
on the kitchen/dining room.
At 6:30 a.m. each day the Deer Creek
Grange members were on the roof removing
the old metal sheeting and the shingles that
were found underneath it. The old rusted sheet
metal roof and the shingles underneath it were
removed to allow Danny Hertler and Kurt
Hertler to install the new green metal roofing.
Marty Hertler provided lumber needed to
repair rafters and used his bucket truck to
repair the high trim boards. Deer Creek Grange
is thankful to the Hertler boys for all their hard
work.
Deer Creek Grange received a matching
grant from Oregon State Grange to help fund
the new roof, porch repair and exterior paint
for the building in January 2016.
We were delayed in beginning the
construction throughout the summer of 2016
because our contractors were busy with their
own businesses and unable to fit us in their
schedule. When we finally had the materials
delivered, it began to rain and did not stop
until late May 2017 preventing the roof
replacement. One week before the project
was to begin this month, it was discovered
that someone had attempted to steal the
roofing material. The steel binding around
the sheeting was cleanly cut through and it is
believed that the metal would have been taken
at that time except that it was 26 feet long and
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very heavy. It is believed that the would-be
thieves were planning to return later in the
night with a longer trailer and more help.
Grange members had to load the material onto
a 16 feet trailer and walk behind it to hold up
the sheeting to prevent it from dragging during
the rescue process. The very next week grange
members had to again walk behind the trailer
to return the material to the site.
The new metal roof is 95 percent
completed and the members will begin phase
two of their grant project with the removal
and reconstruction of the existing porch which
is scheduled during July. Once the porch is
completed the hall will be painted and an Open
House will be held for the public.
Niemi also pointed out that logging
doesn’t pencil out for taxpayers.
“The analysis focuses on the
BLM’s recent proposal to log more
than 8,000 acres per year, receiving
timber-sale revenues of about $6,400
per acre,” he wrote. “The costs,
though, will total more than $370,000
per acre. Revenue from timber sales
on public forests in western Oregon
covers less than 2 percent of the
costs.”
Niemi concluded, “Their
analysis ignores new ecological
science and relies on old ideas and/or
partial truths. The result is the BLM’s
proposed actions will achieve the
opposite of their intended objectives
‘to produce wood volume, improve
stand resiliency, enhance or maintain
northern spotted owl habitat,
and reduce the long-term risk of
catastrophic wildfire.’”
Mary Camp also complained
that the BLM released the 477 page
Environmental Assessment (EA)
June 1 and only gave the public 45
days to read and comment.
“They’ve done a great job of
keeping people in the dark,” she
said. “I hope anyone who cares about
this will call the BLM at 541-471-
6520 and ask for an extension of the
comment period beyond July 17.”
Camp also suggested anyone
wanting an armchair tour of the sites,
visit Luke Rudiger’s pictorial blog at
www.SiskiyouCrest.org.
Local activist Terry Davis will
be at the Cave Junction Farmers’
Market on the lawn area July 7 and
14 with petitions and sample letters.
For more information about
the Pickett West Forest Management
Project, visit the BLM’s national
ePlanning website at http://tinyurl.
com/ BLMePlanning-PickettWest.
Comments may be submitted
electronically to: www.blm_or_
pwest@blm.gov or hardcopies may
be mailed to: Don Ferguson, Public
Information Specialist, BLM Grants
Pass Field Office, 2164 NE Spalding
Avenue, Grants Pass, Oregon 97526.
BLM officials failed to respond
to questions before press deadline.
The
Archive
Zone:
by Hillary Mohr from the Illinois Valley News archives
No matter the day, month or year, it never fails; someone is either sitting,
walking, laying or stumbling in the middle of the road. With that being said, please
enjoy a knee slappin’ laughin’ time with this week’s Police Blotter Archive Zone. The
Date: May 23, 2012. Location: Cave Junction and the Illinois Valley.
Friday, May 11
*Police arrested a woman in the 200 block of W. River Street on charges of
assault IV and unlawful use of mace, after receiving calls of a man being assaulted.
Saturday, May 12
*Someone harassed a caller from the 200 block of W. Watkins, threatening to
beat him up, This has been an ongoing occurrence. Messages were left for the caller,
who later asked for information on a stalking order. *A man was heard yelling while
he walked past a residence in the 4700 block of Lakeshore Drive. A second caller said
a man with gray hair was sitting on the white line and may have been drinking. Units
in the area checked from Lakeshore to Dryden, but couldn’t find the man.
Sunday, May 13
*A man with red hair and a sailor’s outfit was standing in the middle of the road
in the 18400 block of Redwood Hwy. Cars were going around the man as he was
walking. Units checked the area and were unable to find him. Then, they checked a
local bar, but couldn’t find him there either. *Neighbors who had been evicted from
a residence on S. Junction Avenue were still doing “crazy stuff.” The caller noticed a
strong gasoline smell when going into her yard, and the two neighbors, a male and a
female, were still acting weird.
Tuesday, Jan. 25
(Courtesy photo for the Illinois Valley News)
Kris Sherman, Clifford Tucker, Pat-
rick Anderson, Jacob Yost and Jack
Anderson on the roof removing the old
materials and David Anderson waiting
to move the debris with his backhoe.
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F r i d a y, J u l y 7
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*Someone reported harassment during an ongoing property line dispute in the
23800 block of Redwood Hwy. The argument came to a head today, where the victim
reported that his neighbor sprayed him with a garden hose. Charges were referred to
the district attorney’s office. *A woman called in a possible assault in the 300 block
of Caves Hwy. saying someone threw something at her, causing her nose to bleed.
She said people were stalking her so she couldn’t get home. People also were hiding
behind the corner. She first requested an ambulance for her nose, but then refused
medical. Medics on scene said she appeared to be “on something.” She was not a
danger to herself or others and was advised to return to her residence for the evening.
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Every Wednesday
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Fridays @ 6 p.m.
Selma Center
Drive - In
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Free pool on Sundays
Sportsman
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