BLM Swiftwater Area 1999 Timber Sales

Update 5/01: This sale probably cannot go on due to the Rothstein ruling.

The fearsome
PIPELINE TIMBER SALE

Prior to 5/01:

Please help your neighbors in Yoncalla by sending Roseburg BLM comments on the Pipeline timber sale. Even though the comment period is now closed, you may still let BLM know what you think about this sale or any other. (Click below to send your comments via email).

The “Pipeline” timber sale is located just west of Yoncalla. They propose to log over 1,500 log truck loads (7.5 mmbf) by clearcutting 219 acres from scattered parcels, mostly in the backyards of rural Yoncalla area residents. This is BLM's largest clearcut proposed this year.

According to BLM documentation, this is prime habitat for raptors (hawks and eagles) because of old-growth forests being in close proximity to the valley bottom ranches. But since the law doesn’t require them to preserve this prime habitat, they will go ahead and clearcut them.

Additionally, the BLM documents that many old-growth dependent species use these forests, such as the Northern Spotted Owl and the Red Tree Vole (an important Spotted Owl food). However, the agency states they are allowed to “incidentally” kill them (the BLM received an “incidental take permit”) since there is a nearby Spotted Owl Reserve (LSR). Unfortunately, much of the Spotted Owl Reserve was clearcut before it was designated a reserve in 1995, and won’t be available for a home for the owls for decades. Also, hundreds of acres of the Owl Reserve was clearcut in 1996 when congress passed the ‘Salvage Logging Rider’ (the Yellow Creek Mountain timber sale). The owls depend on the Pipeline timber sale forests for their food, and sometimes for nesting. Since law doesn't require the BLM to protect them, they won't.

The Red Tree Vole (pictured at right), and many other less famous old-growth dependent species, have been documented living in the Pipeline forests. Here the law DOES require the BLM to protect these species, but the agency has interpreted the law in a twisted way. They claim that since these forests are the last remnants of the original forests that covered the Yoncalla hills, the Red Tree Vole will likely die out anyway. Therefore, they can directly kill them off sooner by logging the trees they live in.

Is this the way we want our public officials to manage our land? If not, now is the time to speak out.

The people living below these proposed clearcuts will be affected by more then just the loss of their public forests and wildlife. Many of them obtain their drinking and stock water from the supply that is held in the forests above. In fact, the water from these forests flows into Billy Creek, a Community Water System that supplies over 1,200 people with drinking water. Clearcutting in watersheds supplying public drinking water will degrade the water supply by causing Peak Flow Increases. This means the water will flow off the denuded mountains faster than normal when it rains and less than normal when it doesn’t rain.

These people also depend on the massive tree roots of the forest to hold the mountain soil in place above them. Even with the protection of the forest, the slopes are so unstable that several recent small landslides have occurred. But now BLM proposes to clearcut right over these natural landslides, even though BLM is prohibited from logging on “potentially unstable slopes” (ROD C-31). BLM has documented that their logging could cause landslides and erroneously claims the law doesn’t apply unless a landslide they cause goes directly into a stream.

In one of the most unstable parts of the Pipeline sale (unit 7A), a landslide wouldn’t go directly into a stream. But immediately under this forest is a ranch. BLM documents in their logging report that: “Care in falling and yarding will be needed, especially along the east line as private residences and out buildings are in close proximity." Not once did the BLM evaluated the effects of landslides on the private residences.

The BLM is determined to log these last old-growth forests near the Yoncalla valley. They even threatened to condemn one private homeowner’s land. This private landowner didn’t want logging trucks and BLM personnel driving over his or her land, so BLM threatened: “the government could take the private property needed for a right of way access by virtue of eminent domain.”

Umpqua Watersheds, with the help of local residents, sponsored a hike through the Pipeline timber sale this spring. Children from the local farms have held and help study the Spotted Owls that feed in the forests (Picture on right is the Owl in unit 7b of Pipeline). We cannot allow these precious forests to be clearcut without our objections well documented.

Please write or email the BLM. Tell them not to log over potentially unstable soils. Tell the BLM they must consider the neighbors living around the proposed clearcuts; that they must preserve the Red Tree Vole and other sensitive species; and that isolated forests must be protected to ensure the genetic legacy they provide to our children.

When you write to BLM, please include the reference to
“Pipeline Timber Sale, EA# OR-104-98-10”. To make your comments count in the record, include your name and postal address (especially important if you email them). The deadline for comments has passed, but you can always comment on anyway.

BLM’s address is:

BLM, Roseburg District
Attn: Jay Carlson
777 NW Garden Valley Blvd.
Roseburg, OR 97470

You can email your comments to BLM at: OR100MB@or.blm.gov (don’t forget to include your postal address). Thank you for helping.

Francis Eatherington
Forest Monitor
Umpqua Watersheds, Inc.




Living There, Pipeline timber sale

4/99: According to a Yoncalla resident who lives next to this timber sale:

"Yoncalla an Indian word that means Land of the Eagles. The only eagles I have seen are a pair of immature bald Eagles perched on a snag. This particular snag is in the Pipeline sale. The Hayhurst Valley has potential for excellent salmon habitat. The problem is the private timber industry owns the majority of land. Large Company's like Sun Studs follow the Oregon Forest Practices Act which have little regard for the environment. The watersheds in the Hayhurst valley look like a war zone. Logging is still done right up to stream banks. I can show you a massive landslide on the South Fork of Billy Creek (picture at right). There are numerous other slides that have devastated this sensitive and critical salmon habitat.

These irresponsible logging practices happen everyday. BLM owns small parcels of old growth in the Yoncalla area. BLM has initiated a timber harvest called the Pipeline Timber Sale. This timber harvest consists of 4 40-acre units and two other small parcels in highly sensitive watersheds. BLM feels it is right to harvest these parcels because private industry has already destroyed the surrounding areas. The only suitable habitat for endangered and special status species is owned by BLM. This is the part I do not understand. Why does BLM want to contribute to the extinction of endangered species? BLM should set the example and put the environment first. The acreage in the pipeline is not a lot, but it is still significant to the surviving wildlife that exists there.

"I live close by two of the 40-acre parcels. These old stands of trees are powerful. Each tree has its own story. These trees have supported wildlife for generations. Several trees have large stick nest in them. I have had the honor to watch a pair of red tail hawks and pair of great horn owls share this 40 acres while raising their off- spring. Being the witness to this natural wonder has been extremely uplifting. The Pipeline Sale is habitat for the Spotted Owl. Last April I helped tag an owl that was in the sale [pictured above]. Time and time again I have been touched by the sprits of the trees. I have been watched by the Bald Eagles. I continue to visit these units knowing the answers are there. Owls are only one species. There are many more species that stand to loose by harvesting this old growth. It is time for more people to stand and say the Old Growth in the Pipeline Timber Harvest belongs to Yoncalla. We in the valley of the Eagles would love to preserve our heritage."

Status: Pipeline is now open for Public Comment. Please send your comments to BLM, so that they can "consider" them when deciding weather or not to clearcut this forest.


Watson Mountain timber sale,
near Glide

BLM is proposing a very large area to be clearcut up Little River watershed, near Glide Oregon, in the area of the Peel Store. Clearcut units are proposed on both sides of Little River highway. In addition to clearcutting, BLM wants to sell trees from Riparian Reserves, as well as reserves set aside for a very special plant that grows no where else, the Umpqua Mariposa Lily. Logging units are proposed directly above people's houses on Watson Mountain, in drinking water watersheds, as well as right next to Engles Creek, and near Rattlesnake Creek.

The final proposal has not yet been released, so we don't know the exact acres or volume being planned for. There's still time for you to write to BLM so they can take your concerns into "consideration". Little River doesn't need any more clearcutting to help restore the native fish species. Since only 4% of the wood products we use come from public forests, BLM should keep the remaining old-growth in Little River for our wildlife, and conserve 4% of their paper usage instead. At the least, BLM should print all their timber sale documents on 100% post-consumer recycled paper, or better yet, tree-free paper. Email BLM here.