1/98 update: Due to the salvage logging rider, this sale was not included in our ACS court win. This sale is now likely cut.
Kernel John is
being sold today, December 24, just 7 days before the end of the Salvage Logging
Rider. Roseburg BLM's last public notice on this sale stated that it would be sold
in 1997. However, this would have allowed citizen appeals. By moving the sale to
December, Kernel John is protected from all laws by the Rider.
Kernel John is in the habitat of the endangered Umpqua Cutthroat Trout, and needed an "incidental take permit" (kill permit) because it is "likely to adversely affect" the critically endangered fish in the South Umpqua. However, the "incidental take permit" was illegal because there has been no overall plan evaluated yet to protect these fish. Twice we won a lawsuit proving that BLM is failing to protect the Umpqua cutthroat trout as required under the Endangered Species Act. But since Kernel John is being rushed through under the salvage logging rider, it is immune from all laws.
Kernel John is in a Key Watershed, as designated by the President's forest plan. Key Watersheds are supposed to have a high potential for fisheries restoration projects, but just another 6.6 million board foot, 158-acre clear-cut is BLM's idea of how to treat a Key Watershed for endangered fish.
The Kernel John clear-cut is in the community of Milo's watershed. Water rights and spring boxes are directly within unit 1, and many more are within a mile of the sale. BLM is ignoring the problem of community watersheds by removing 1,320 logging trucks loads of trees from one of the last remaining old native forests in the area.
BLM is required to disperse clear-cuts 'over time and space'. However, units 1, 2, 4, 5 and 6 are immediately adjacent to very recent clear-cuts (less than 4 years old), in violation of BLM's own forest plan. BLM was in such a hurry to sell this forest before the end of the Rider, that they illegally did a 'pre-sale' harvest, cutting down over 80 large trees, even before a decision document was signed.
For just over 3 million dollars, Roseburg Forest Products won this Christmas present -- the privilege of clear-cutting a watershed for endangered fish and a rural community. They will even be given a discount to clean up the landslides that occurred there this fall, so they proceeded to devastate it with more dangerous harvest techniques.
A procedure developed for estimating cumulative effects that lead to catastrophic events like the floods of '96 is called the Hydrologic Recovery Procedure (HRP). According to the HRP, if more than 25% of a subwatershed has been harvested and is unrecovered, the cumulative effect will be detrimental (i.e., landslides). The HRP in the St. John Creek sub-watershed will rise to 30% unrecovered after this clearcut - 5% over the legal limit! This is in blatant violation of the ACS (current aquatic regulations). BLM could not even think of this clearcut if the congressional salvage logging rider didn't protect them from environmental laws, and prevent citizen appeals.
Besides skirting the law and logging off a community's water supply, the Kernel John timber sale will also severely impact a Tier 1 Key Watershed. The President's forest plan identified significant watersheds that are of utmost importance to our endangered fish stocks, and the mountains above the community of Milo was identified as one of the most important watersheds for our endangered fish stocks. The trees to be logged are hundreds of years old, and stand alone with recent BLM clearcuts surrounding them.
What are BLM's priorities for managing our public lands? Why is the first management activity, since St. John and Coffee Creek were designated 'Key Watersheds', a large regeneration harvest (clearcut)? How does this proposal protect our resources? The St. John and Coffee Creek watershed analysis says:
"Tier 1 Watersheds are designed to serve as refugia for maintaining and recovering habitat for at-risk stocks of anadromous salmonids and resident fish species. The South Umpqua Basin has been identified as water quality limited by the Oregon DEQ in their 1994 Water Quality Assessment. Key Watersheds with lower quality habitat were selected for their high potential for restoration and are designed to become future sources of high quality habitat with the implementation of a comprehensive restoration program."
Why are we starting by proposing large clearcuts of the few remaining old-growth trees? A stream survey was conducted in this area in 1937. Do any of us remember 1937? Not likely, but just a blink of an eye in our history. If we knew what we have lost, we would yearn for restoration. The watershed analysis says, page 14:
"A 1937 survey conducted by the Umpqua National Forest reported that salmon, steelhead, and cutthroat trout were abundant throughout many reaches of the river and its' tributaries (Roth 1937). Excellent fishing opportunities for resident trout and anadromous salmon and trout historically existed within the South Umpqua River (Roth 1937). The historical condition of the riparian zone along the South Umpqua River favored conditions typical of old-growth forests found in the Pacific Northwest. Roth noted the shade component that existed along the stream reaches surveyed. The majority of the stream reaches surveyed were "arboreal" in nature, meaning "tall timber along the banks, shading most of the stream" (Roth 1937). The river and its' tributaries were well shaded by the canopy closure associated with mature trees. Streambanks were provided protection by the massive root systems of these trees."
Does this say that BLM has been practicing SUSTAINABLE forestry? Can BLM claim that Kernel John clearcuts continue sustainable forestry? If our parents remember the above survey - what do we see, and what will our children see? The St. John and Coffee Creek watershed analysis continues:
"A comparative study was conducted in all of the stream reaches surveyed for the 1937 report by the UNF during the summer low-flow period between 1989 and 1993. The results of the study show that... Land management activities (road construction and timber harvest) may have contributed to the changes in the channel characteristics and it may be that these changes in channel condition has resulted in the observed decline of three of four anadromous salmonid stocks occurring in the basin (Dose 1994)....
"In 1937 Roth reported summer steelhead above the South Umpqua Falls. Summer steelhead are now considered to be extinct (Nehlsen 1991)....
"Coho salmon were considered abundant in the South Umpqua in 1972 by the Oregon State Gave Commission (1972). An estimated 4000 fish spawned in the basin... Presently, the coho salmon of the South Umpqua are suffering the same declines as other coastal stocks. These declines are potentially due to several factors, including the degradation of their habitats, the effects of extensive hatchery releases, and overfishing (Nehlsen 1994)."
The negative impacts on clean water for fish and humans is not the only result of Kernel John timber sale. What about other old-growth dependent species? Do they deserve to live to? The Kernel John EA comes right out and says that the clearcuts:
"will remove 172 acres of suitable Owl habitat which would impact two Master Sites. The harvest would occur within 1.2 miles of the home range of each site. This is a "May affect - like to adversely affect' ruling because it would further reduce suitable habitat within each home range below the 40% threshold."
"The project will reduce the snag component of the project area to the point it "would result in loss of foraging, roosting and nesting habitat for woodpeckers, bats and other cavity-dependent species."
These are insect eating species that keep our forests healthy. Several bat species are suspected to populate the project area.
BLM will blast away on the Lavadour Creek Community Pit to get enough gravel to grade 8 miles of roads to give the timber industry access these forests. We foot the bill.
The public comment period ended on 7/24/96, and this sale is now likely cut. That doesn't mean you can't say anything to BLM. Just click here, and write. You don't have to be an expert in anything. Just speak from your heart. Tell them that clean water must be preserved for the community of Milo and for our endangered fish species. Urge them to propose projects of much needed restoration instead.