NEWS
BY CLAIRE RISCHIOTTO
BLM PLAN UNDER FIRE
O
n April 12, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) publicly re-
leased its proposed plan to increase timber harvest and environ-
mental protections in Western Oregon forests. The plan claims to
strike a balance between timber interests and protecting wildlife,
but local environmental groups have called BLM’s new plan and
“balanced approach” into question.
The proposed BLM “Resource Management Plan” will include a
37-percent increase in timber harvest, according to Cascadia Wildlands,
Oregon Wild and Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center.
“This plan is going to ramp up logging in Western Oregon by almost
40 percent, and it’s imperative that we begin to look at our public forest
lands as more than piggy banks, as they’re the lifeblood of our region,”
says Josh Laughlin, executive director of Cascadia Wildlands. “They
provide us our clean drinking water, incredible recreation opportunities,
salmon and wildlife habitat.”
Enviro groups are concerned that the BLM’s plan will threaten a clean
source of water. This threat, says Doug Heiken of Oregon Wild, is due to
an increase in logging and road building, as the federal forestlands “are up-
stream from the water intakes” in cities that serve 1.8 million Oregonians.
Another concern is for wildlife. Heiken explains that endangered wild-
life species such as spotted owls, salmon and marbled murrelets will be
at risk due to an increase in logging of old-growth reserves and through
cutting stream buffers in half.
Sarah Levy, a public affairs officer with the BLM, says that 96 percent
of trees 200 years and older and 91 percent of trees 120 years and older
will be protected.
In regard to timber management in wildlife habitat, Levy says that the
plan is “in accordance with the Fish and Wildlife Service Recovery Plan
for the northern spotted owl.”
A 30-day public review period began on April 8, and the full plan can
be viewed at blm.gov/or/plans/rmpswesternoregon/feis.
HAPPENING PEOPLE
BY PAUL NEEVEL
DERON FORT
With a degree in marketing from the College of
William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Deron Fort
returned to his hometown of West Chester,
Pennsylvania, for a sales job at a titanium
manufacturing plant. “It was not inspiring work,” he
says. “We wore badges to measure radiation from the
electron beam furnaces.” Fort quit two years later to
study for a master’s in education at the University of
North Carolina Wilmington, then taught middle school
for two years.
In 2001, he and his brother spent five months
hiking the Appalachian Trail. “End-to-end, 2,160
miles,” he says. “It was a life-changing experience.”
Fort returned to UNCW for a job coordinating student
teachers in area schools, and later became its first
early-college liaison for high school students. “Early
college works,” he says. “Many students have a
transformed view of their potential when they
experience a college campus.”
Fort kept an eye on job openings in certain
geographic areas and, in 2011, was hired as director
of High School Connections at Lane Community
College. HSC opened its Early College and Career
Options (ECCO) High School on campus in 2013. “My
wife Shelly also likes hiking and camping,” he says.
“We try to see as much of Oregon as we can.” Recruited
by officemate Patty Hine, a co-founder of 350 Eugene,
Fort took part in last summer’s Hike the Pipe protest of
the proposed natural gas pipeline and terminal in
Southern Oregon. “I hiked about 50 miles, from Shady
Grove to Tiller,” he says. “We had to alter our route
because of wildfire. Those pipes leak methane. It’s a
recipe for disaster.”
Cycle the Lovely
Mohawk Valley!
May 7, 2016
The 5th annual benefit bike ride for
Oregon Supported Living Program’s
Arts & Culture Program
mohawkvalley100k.org
40K 60K 100K 100K+
Armitage Park, Eugene, OR
eugeneweekly.com • A pril 21, 2016
11