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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (April 19, 2012)
E A RT H D AY 2 0 1 2 GOOSED A commentary on the Goose Timber Sale BY ROY KEENE T he Goose Timber Sale near McKenzie Bridge is a large Forest Service logging operation posed as a benefi cial project for the forest and the people. But local people aren’t buying the sales pitch. They say this giant timber sale will, in truth, be as bad for the forest as it will for them. Since Bush’s 2003 Healthy Forest Initiative, federal logging has morphed from a straightforward “get the cut out” to a sideways approach of “improving” the forest by logging it. This new, improved logging, called by buzzwords like “restoration,” “thinning” or “fuel reduction,” still focuses on removing older, high-value timber much like the old logging. Fuzzy names and science didn’t fool the citizens of McKenzie Bridge. They chastised the Forest Service for failing to adequately inform them, dug into the Environmental Assessment, got up to speed with the issues and began looking intelligently at sale units. Apart from broadcast burning in the wake of historic logging, there’s little evidence in Goose of the intense crown fi res the Forest Service uses as justifi cation for “heavy thinning.” Heavy thinning creates open-canopied, dried-out, slash and brush-fi lled residual stands, which are typically more fl ammable after logging. Given that logging itself is also a major cause of wildfi re ignition, the community wonders how will logging reduce fi re risk? The reality disconnect of this 38-million-board-foot timber grab reducing wildfi re bothers many forest-savvy locals as much as the coming war zone. McKenzie Bridge residents don’t look forward to day-long droning of chainsaws, the roar of jet helicopters, loaded trucks rumbling by in swirling dust or the increase in wildfi re danger from summer logging operations. Besides devaluing this rural community’s life quality, Goose will devalue the forest and signifi cantly undervalue the public’s high-quality timber. A similar sale, the Ten Re-Offer HANGING OUT IN THE GOOSE was ignominiously awarded for $7.60 a ton ... 10 percent of real market value. This undervaluing partially refl ects helicopter yarding, so expensive and wasteful that we end up paying for valuable trees to be removed from our forest. There are more bad eggs from the Goose, but also a few ways to honestly buffer McKenzie River residents from seldom-seen forest fi res while preserving forest capital. Instead of logging large trees from distant upland slopes, remove small trees and excess vegetation around residences and thin forest understories along roads. Contract smaller, less-mechanized, but equally effective fuel reduction projects locally. Quit subsidizing distant mega-mills with PHOTO BY ROY KEENE huge helicopter and skyline logging operations at a loss to the public. Instead, redirect these subsidies toward activities like putting steel roofi ng on vulnerable community buildings and creating ponds for wildlife that would serve simultaneously as water points for future fi re fi ghting. The Goose Timber Sale does one thing really well. It highlights the inherent dishonesty, inequity and wastefulness of the archaic federal timber sale program. As one citizen said, “It looks as if you’re going to turn me into a 67-year-old tree sitter with this Goose Project. Bad news for us all!” ew For more on community effort to stop the Goose Timber Sale, go to www.savemckenziebridge.com NATURAL FOODS NA Individuals Nourishing Community Since 1971 Indivi Support the earth! Ke Keep it local! Raw Local L Willa amette Valley Honey From Lo ocal Distributor Hummi ingbird rd Wholesale Wh $2.99 9 lb medical advice for global travelers reg. $3.99 reg $3 99 Bags of Local traveling soon? t he t ravel c linic Organic John D. Wilson, M.D. Baby Kale, Baby Chard, and Braising Mix 1200 Hilyard St., Suite S-560 541/343-6028 $3.49 1/2 lb bag $3.4 www.TravelClinicOregon.com reg. $4.49 Local Multi-grain Beer L Ninkasi Commonwealth Benefits Food For Lane County! $2.95 reg. $3.95 Doak Creek Native Plant Nursery ?ZpgEbeb^lLahhmbg`LmZklMb`^kEbeb^l P^aZo^ZeZk`^l^e^\mbhgh_ NORTHWEST NATIVES FOR SPRING PLANTING Prices good through 4/25 or while supplies last Local merchants, the heart of our community 24th & HilyardRSHQGDLO\DPSP WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM Questions? Email us at travelclinicoregon.343-6028@gmail.com Questions? Email us at travelclinic3436028 @ gmail.com 484-9206 By Appt. 1,,,*C:<DLHGF:KEHPK='>N@>G> ppp']hZd\k^^dgnkl^kr'\hf EUGENE WEEKLY APRIL 19, 2012 15
