Cedar Creek

12/05 update: Although public comment period is now over, this timber sale has changed little. The following page still applies.

2000

Cedar Creek timber sale

The Coos Bay BLM district is proposing this sale, which includes 189 acres of clearcutting of old-growth public forests (unit 3D, proposed for clearcutting, shown in picture on right). To do this, BLM must build 2.3 miles of new logging roads and put another 1.8 miles of overgrown roads on their map, for a total of 4.1 miles of new gravel logging roads. In addition, BLM would reconstruct and improve for log truck use another 10 miles of logging roads, mostly on Weyerhaeuser land.

The Cedar Creek public forests proposed for clearcutting are small parcels, widely scattered within a huge chunk of private industrial forest land, owned by Weyerhaeuser and called the Millicoma Tree Farm (see aerial photos below). Weyerhaeuser's 209,000-acre tree farm is exactly that -- former old-growth forests converted to agricultural type tree plantations, for hundreds of square miles in the Coast Range. Much of it has been recently slicked off in fresh new clearcuts. Dotted among the Weyerhaeuser clearcuts are little in-holdings of publicly owned old-growth. These remnant stands are what Coos-Bay BLM is proposing to now clearcut in Cedar Creek.

Spotted Owls Will Die

Seeking refuge from the storm are a few spotted owls nesting in the public forests -- the only place where old trees remain. Coos-Bay BLM is considering cutting down three spotted owl nest trees to sell to the timber industry. These spotted owls are not nesting where they should be (in LSRs, designated spotted owl reserves). Since the owls have chosen to live in the "matrix", BLM claims they can legally destroy their nests. ("Matrix" are areas open for logging and are not reserved for Spotted Owls.)

The Cedar Creek EA says that "Actual spotted owl site centers occur in" two of the timber sale units, 2C and 2D. The BLM wildlife biologist told me these "site centers" have spotted owls nests that have successfully produced baby owls in the past. Additionally, there is a nesting pair of spotted owls either in unit 6B or on the boundary, who raised a family just this past spring. All three of these nest trees could be cut down.

Any spotted owl pairs that were nesting in the Matrix in 1994 were protected by the Northwest Forest Plan with a 100-acre Owl Core Area. But no owl surveys were done in units 2C and 2D before 1995, so the owls now known to live there can be harmed. For many years, the owls in unit 6B had been living in a protected Owl Core Area. But just this last spring, they decided to move-- a small move, less than a quarter mile-- and wound up living in or on the boundary of unit 6B. Unfortunately, the owls did not see the logging unit boundary when they moved further into the old trees and away from the edge Weyerhaeuser's tree farm, so they now can be harmed or killed in the timber sale.

If BLM decides to cut down the nest tree (and they won't tell us until after public comments), they would give the owls one last year by not cutting during the nesting season. The owls will be allowed to raise one last family before clearcutting destroys their home. Even if BLM decides to leave the three nest trees swinging in the breeze in the middle of the clearcuts, the owls could still die -- either a slow and painful death of starvation, or a quick and fast death from predators, such as the barred owl.

A fourth owl nest was located in unit 3B. But the species of owl occupying this nest is unknown -- it could be a barred owl. Incredibly, under BLM regulations, all owls living in the Matrix get a 5 acre no-cut protection buffer EXCEPT spotted owls. Since the owl nest in unit 3B could be a barred owl, it will receive a 5 acre buffer. If BLM can establish that it is a spotted owl, the nest tree can be cut down.

The timber sale proposal states that "8 of 27 northern spotted owl sites (30%) either within the subwatershed or whose home range overlaps it could be affected by the proposed action." In other words, the clearcutting of 189 acres in the Cedar Creek timber sale will do more than just remove 3 owl nest trees -- it will negatively impact 30% of all spotted owls in this section of the Coos River watershed. For a species that is critically endangered, it is irresponsible for BLM to degrade the home of 30% of the owls in one area that is mostly overcut Weyerhaeuser land.

Coos Bay BLM is proposing to "regenerate harvest" (aka clearcut) 189 acres, selling about 2,000 log truck loads (9130 mbf) of native, old forests. The 189 acres will be converted to industrial tree farms, to be clearcut every 60 years, and never again be allowed to return to a mature forest ecosystem capable of supporting the fish and wildlife that depend on old forests for homes. (52 of the acres will be allowed to live 150 years between clearcutting).

An additional 906 acres will be "thinned", bringing the total timber sale proposal up to 2,820 log truck loads (14,100 mbf) off of 1,095 acres being sold to industry. Unfortunately, some of this thinning will happen in the riparian reserves (protected stream-side buffers). BLM will log to within 20 feet of some streams, selling every tree cut to the industry and leaving nothing behind for wildlife that depends on down wood. (These buffers have been logged before and are in short supply of natural amounts of dead wood.)

In case you are wondering, Why would Coos Bay BLM do such a thing with OUR public forests? Here are some of the reasons they give:

Work toward meeting the Coos Bay District's Allowable Sale Quantity (ASQ) for Fiscal Year 2000 and beyond [meet timber targets].
Provide habitat elements for a variety of organisms associated with early-successional [clearcut] habitat, and
Meet Aquatic Conservation Strategy Objectives [which is to "restore degraded watersheds"].

View From the Air

Unit B -- Before

Unit B -- After

Left: aerial photo of how unit B looks now (ignore the miscellaneous writing BLM has scribbled on it).
Right: a computer simulation of how Unit B will look if the Cedar Creek project is completed.

The rectangle parcel of public forest is 480 acres, already partially clearcut in the past by Coos Bay BLM. The remaining old-growth is about 300 acres (dark green area on left). BLM is now proposing to clearcut another 104 acres out of this block, leaving only the dark green area seen in the picture on the right. All the surrounding land is owned, and was clearcut, by Weyerhaeuser.

The dark areas above are old forests. The lighter areas are recent clearcuts, logging roads, and young tree plantations. The old forests seen in the upper right corner is one of the protected Spotted Owl Core Area (NSO), where the owl should be living but moved out of this spring, and into unit 6B (beneath NSO on right side).

Unit A -- Before

Unit A -- After

Can you find the little 40-acre piece of public land in the picture above? It is in a virtual sea of wasted, nuked, clearcut Weyerhaeuser tree farms, safely hidden behind sturdy locked gates. In the little square of public land seen on the left, the top half appears to be old growth. In the picture on the right, the computer simulation shows what it will look like if the Cedar Creek project is completed.

Aerial Photos courtesy of Coos-Bay BLM. Computer Simulations courtesy of my computer.

Would you like to go see these trees before they are cut?

Weyerhaeuser only allows Coos Bay BLM to escort the public in to their lands. Call the Coos Bay public affairs officer, Alan Hoffmeister, at 541-751-4249, if you would like an escort.

Right-of-way history: Back in the 1960's, BLM and Weyerhaeuser made a deal. Weyerhaeuser was allowed to block public access to any citizens wanting to use public lands within Weyerhaeuser holdings. However, if BLM were decide to sell the public forests for logging, Weyerhaeuser would provide access to timber industry representatives who wanted to bid on it.

In the 1970's, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) was passed by Congress, which requires full disclosure of public forest timber sales to all citizens, not just to the timber industry. In spite of this, Coos Bay BLM is now claiming their Weyerhaeuser deal trumps NEPA, and we still can not inspect the Cedar Creek timber sale at will. Coos Bay BLM has even stated they are taking NO steps to bring their Weyerhaeuser agreements into compliance with current law. It's easier to restrict us, and permit unrestrained access to only to the timber industry.

Weyerhaeuser permits Coos Bay to escort the public into their lands only in government vehicles. The BLM will only tour the public on weekdays. Since the proposed sale is over 1,000 acres, widely scattered in 5 separate units, BLM can only make "brief stops" at each unit if you want to see it all in a day. There would be no time to inspect most of the unit boundaries, stream side reserves, parts of units not seen from the road, etc.

Coos Bay BLM made it clear that their deal with Weyerhaeuser has NO provision for public access. We should feel lucky Weyerhaeuser is permitting the public to enter in government vehicles.

A Closer View

We walked into unit D of the Cedar Creek proposal, trespassing on Weyerhaeuser's industrial forest, to get to our public land. This is what we found (right). ---- >>

Later we visited a near-by Coos Bay BLM timber sale sold last year, the Beyer's Deadhorse Timber Sale. (Yes, that's pronounced Dead Horse. Don't ask me where they come up with these names.)

Dead Horse gave us an idea of what the Cedar Creek project would look IF BLM succeeded in getting the loggers in. Picture on the right is some of our trees cut in unit 6, waiting to be loaded on the trucks.

Picture on the right is the new logging road into unit 6 of the Deadhorse timber sale. This would be similar to the new logging roads proposed for the Cedar Creek project.

Picture on the right is one of the completed units of BLM's Deadhorse timber sale. This is what those aerial photos will look like on the ground if BLM succeeds in finishing the Cedar Creek project.

Unit B -- Before	Unit B -- After

Left: aerial photo of how unit B looks now (ignore the miscellaneous writing BLM has scribbled on it). Right: a computer simulation of how Unit B will look if the Cedar Creek project is completed. The rectangle parcel of public forest is 480 acres, already partially clearcut in the past by Coos Bay BLM. The remaining old-growth is about 300 acres (dark green area on left). BLM is now proposing to clearcut another 104 acres out of this block, leaving only the dark green area seen in the picture on the right. All the surrounding land is owned, and was clearcut, by Weyerhaeuser. The dark areas above are old forests. The lighter areas are recent clearcuts, logging roads, and young tree plantations. The old forests seen in the upper right corner is one of the protected Spotted Owl Core Area (NSO), where the owl should be living but moved out of this spring, and into unit 6B (beneath NSO on right side).

Unit A -- Before	Unit A -- After

Can you find the little 40-acre piece of public land in the picture above? It is in a virtual sea of wasted, nuked, clearcut Weyerhaeuser tree farms, safely hidden behind sturdy locked gates. In the little square of public land seen on the left, the top half appears to be old growth. In the picture on the right, the computer simulation shows what it will look like if the Cedar Creek project is completed.
Aerial Photos courtesy of Coos-Bay BLM. Computer Simulations courtesy of my computer.

We walked into unit D of the Cedar Creek proposal, trespassing on Weyerhaeuser's industrial forest, to get to our public land. This is what we found (right). ---- >>
Later we visited a near-by Coos Bay BLM timber sale sold last year, the Beyer's Deadhorse Timber Sale. (Yes, that's pronounced Dead Horse. Don't ask me where they come up with these names.) Dead Horse gave us an idea of what the Cedar Creek project would look IF BLM succeeded in getting the loggers in. Picture on the right is some of our trees cut in unit 6, waiting to be loaded on the trucks.
Picture on the right is the new logging road into unit 6 of the Deadhorse timber sale. This would be similar to the new logging roads proposed for the Cedar Creek project.
Picture on the right is one of the completed units of BLM's Deadhorse timber sale. This is what those aerial photos will look like on the ground if BLM succeeds in finishing the Cedar Creek project.