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Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Salmon litigation threatens state forest production

Salmon litigation threatens state forest production: Guest opinion
Guest Columnist

By Guest Columnist 
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on March 22, 2014 at 12:22 PM
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By Tim Josi
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Salmon litigation threatens state forest production: Guest opinion

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Coho salmon swim up Johnson Creek in December 2013. (The Oregonian)
When the coho salmon was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, (ESA) the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) was charged with developing a recovery plan, which included objective, measurable criteria for protection and ultimate delisting. They have deferred to Oregon’s recovery efforts.

Oregon’s results have been remarkable. Coho salmon spawning numbers in Oregon have reached record levels. In 2011, 356,246 native coho have returned to spawn. This is the largest return since recording began in 1950.

From 1998 through 2004 the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) placed non-lethal fish traps in two fairly short stretches of the Little South Fork of the Kilchis River and the Little North Fork of the Wilson River. The results were remarkable. When multiplying the numbers counted by the hundreds of miles of streams in the Tillamook State Forest, we can conclude millions of coho smolts migrate to our marshlands and the ocean.

What did we do? We started by developing the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds, which included improvements in forest practices. We also created watershed councils, which use lottery dollars to improve salmon habitat.

Between 1994 and 2003 the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) spent $29.1 million on fish-friendly culverts, bridges and road improvements. Significantly more improvements have been made since 2003.

What did we get for our efforts? Coho remains listed as a threatened species, as determined in 2007 by a ruling in federal district court. Even with the continued listing, the ODFW allows anglers to catch and keep adult native coho in certain areas due to their abundance.

Now we’re being threatened with a lawsuit. On Feb. 13, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) sent the state of Oregon a 60-day notice of intent to sue under the ESA. The CBD alleges that coho are “on the brink of extinction.”

Why is this threat of litigation happening now?  Last June, the governor asked the state board of forestry (BOF) to start a planning effort to improve forests’ financial viability. 

They aren’t producing adequate timber revenues to cover their costs. There is a general acceptance that the forest management plan must be modified and timber harvest levels increased. The Tillamook and Clatsop forests are growing at a faster pace than current harvest levels. Other sources of revenue are also being explored, but their potential is minimal. One might assume the CBD is not happy with the proposal to increase timber harvest levels – even if not doing so might put the ODF out of business.

State forests were deeded to the state over 70 years ago by 15 counties, including Tillamook. In exchange for the land transfer, the state agreed to manage these lands for a variety of purposes, but primarily for timber production to benefit the 15 trust counties. The counties were granted a share of timber sale receipts to fund county services, schools and districts such as recreation and transportation.
  
Forest management through litigation has been very effective at halting timber harvesting.  Harvest levels in our federal forests dropped by 93 percent after the spotted owl was listed under the ESA in the early 1990s.    Almost every timber sale is challenged in court. The result is overstocked forests that are prone to insect attacks, disease, blow-downs and massive forest fires.

Recent marbled murrelet ESA litigation on the Elliot State Forest, in Coos Bay, has resulted in the removal of over 90 percent of that forest from timber production.
Now we have a threat to sue for coho ESA violations. If the CBD does litigate and succeeds, it may result in the shutting down of all state forestlands for timber production. Private forestlands are also in peril.

Litigation is also lucrative. Oregon paid $391,000 in litigation fees to those who sued the state over the marbled murrelet.  In their intent to sue over the coho salmon, the CBD states:  “If the Center is successful it will also seek recovery of its litigation expenses including attorney’s fees and costs.”

Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josi is chair of the Council of Forest Trust Land Counties.

Activists warn ‘big timber’ to leave Elliott State Forest alone

News Review Today, Roseburg

http://www.nrtoday.com/news/Activists warn ‘big timber’ to leave Elliott State Forest alone10669252-113/timber-state-forest-elliott

Christina George
cgeorge@nrtoday.com

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Anti-logging activists say they would physically block timber harvests on Elliott State Forest parcels sold by the Department of State Lands.
Cascadia Forest Defenders, in an open letter addressed to “big timber” Monday, said protesters “will not respect new property lines, signs or gates.”
“If timber companies are buying this, they are not just buying a piece of land they can log, they are buying a giant controversy with a large and unified movement encompassing a spectrum of tactics and a spectrum of people,” organizer Erin Grady said Tuesday in an interview.
Three other groups last week threatened to sue any timber company that bought pieces of the Elliott, a 93,000-acre forest between Reedsport and Coos Bay.
The twin warnings aren’t likely to discourage timber companies from bidding, Douglas Timber Operators Executive Director Bob Ragon said today.
“We’re a mature industry. We recognize the hazards, and we’ll conduct our operations in full compliance with the laws,” he said.
The Department of State Lands will go ahead and open bids March 28 despite the threats of lawsuits and blockades, the department’s assistant director, Jim Paul, said.
“We can’t control how other folks are going to react to this sale,” he said.
The State Land Board — made up of Gov. John Kitzhaber, Secretary of State Kate Brown and Treasurer Ted Wheeler — decided to sell 2,738 acres to make up a $3 million deficit in the Common School Fund. The shortfall opened after the state curtailed logging because of lawsuits filed by environmentalists.
In its message to timber companies, Cascadia Forest Defenders accused the State Land Board of “trying to wash their hands of the Elliott.”
“If these forests are privatized, we know what the outcomes will be. We have seen the way that private timber companies have destroyed the land they own,” the letter states.
The group charged the land board with not caring about residents of Douglas and Coos counties “who are sick of seeing the hills above their homes yarded away to a timber mill while their counties grow poorer.”
The activists promised to disrupt operations.
“Do not bid on these sales. If you become the owner of the Elliott, you will have activists up your trees and lawsuits on your desk. We will be at your office and in your mills.”
Said Ragon: “I think it’s kind of an affront to be threatened like that.”
“Who do they think we are? Hooligans running around the woods with chain saws cutting down trees without regard for the environmental consequences?”
Cascadia Wildlands, Audubon Society of Portland and the Center for Biological Diversity have threatened any timber company that buys a piece of the Elliott with litigation. The groups claim logging would harm marbled murrelets and violate the Endangered Species Act.
Cascadia Forest Defenders’ tree-sitters have been effective in stopping since June the 187-acre White Castle timber harvest on Bureau of Land Management timberlands east of Myrtle Creek.
Grady declined to comment on whether tree-sitters have remained there since Oregon Wild and Cascadia Wildlands sued in January to stop the timber harvest.
Cascadia Forest Defenders has staged previous anti-logging protests. Tree-sitters were arrested in the Elliott three years ago when state forest managers proposed increasing annual timber harvests.
The state will open bids this month for the 788-acre East Hakki Ridge in Douglas County and the 355-acre Benson Ridge and 310-acre Adams Ridge Tract 1 parcels in Coos County.
The state plans to auction off another 1,300 acres within the Adams Ridge parcel in the fall.
•You can reach reporter Christina George at 541-957-4202 or at cgeorge@nrtoday.com.