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March 24, 2005
Fiddler on the Docket
The fight over logging in southern Oregon's Siskiyou Mountains is burning hot--reminiscent of the 1980's-era timber wars in the Northwest. To date, 40 protesters have been arrested for trying to prevent the US Forest Service from selling logging rights on a 19,000-acre tract of roadless old-growth reserve, Fiddler Mountain, that was scorched by the infamous Biscuit Fire in 2002. Recently, the frontlines of the battle moved from the forest to a courtroom, where the action is being keenly watched for its potential precedent setting.
Southern Oregon has been hammered by clearcut logging, losing fully 27 percent of its forests in just 3 decades. Don't believe me? Check out NEW's animated time-series map of clearcutting in the region.
Posted by Eric de Place | Permalink
Comments
The map is questionable. It shows all the clearcuts having an age of 10 years or less. But the age of clearcutting was the 70's and 80's, there has been relatively little clearcutting in the last 10 years, especially on national forest land. This is not relevant anyway to the Fiddler Sale. You can debate other issues such as how many snags are needed to maintain wildlife populations, but the fact is that the salvage areas were burned pretty hot and have already been lost as late-successional forest.
Posted by: sf | Mar 25, 2005 12:17:31 PM