Secret Timber Sale Cancelled!
Thanks to the work of Klamath Forest Alliance (KFA), other local activists, residents, and conservation organizations with a local, regional and national focus, the secret got out, and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest announced this morning that the Secret Timber Sale on beautiful Briggs Creek, west of Grants Pass, Oregon has been cancelled, along with the impending timber sale auction!
Make no mistake, without the work of KFA activists monitoring the timber sale mark, the Forest Service would have logged these fire-adapted, old-growth trees! It is also important to note that this project was nominated by KFA for review under the National Old-Growth Amendment. In fact, we directly identified a need to review and to cancel the specific logging units that have now become so controversial. Rather than avoiding this controversy, by protecting these old forests, the Forest Service’s Deputy Chief, Christopher French declined to consider these units for protection or review.
This shows exactly why the National Old-Growth Amendment, as currently proposed, fails to protect old-growth habitats on federal lands. The agency claims their own logging is not a threat to old-growth forests, despite proposing mature and old-growth logging projects across the country, and ramping up timber production on Forest Service lands. In spite of the grandiose claims by the Forest Service in their National Old-Growth Amendment, the logging of old-growth forests in the Secret Timber Sale was originally condoned by Forest Service leadership at the highest level, and the marking of these massive old-growth trees also passed through the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest’s quality control mechanisms, demonstrating that throughout the National Forest system, one cannot rely on the agency implementing its own rules and/or old-growth protection measures with integrity.
Until KFA identified and began publicizing the clear contradictions between the authorized logging prescriptions, the timber sale mark, and the National Old-Growth Amendment, the agency was ready to sell off these old-growth trees to the highest bidder. This shows that despite agency analysis and greenwashing, mature and old-growth forest is regularly threatened on federal lands. It also shows that strong prohibitions are required to protect these old forests from federal lands logging operations. Unfortunately those prohibitions are entirely lacking in the Forest Service’s National Old-Growth Amendment Draft Environmental Impact Statement, which fails to meet it’s objective of protecting mature and old-growth forests as natural climate solutions, and for their incredible climate resilience.
What the agency does next is somewhat unclear; they have not officially or publicly committed to re-marking the Secret Timber Sale or cancelling the inappropriate units. They have only stated that they will continue reviewing the project. The information released by the Forest Service does say the agency intends to “re-advertise the sale at a later date.”
Although the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest has done the right thing in cancelling the Secret Timber Sale, it has not committed to addressing the problem by withdrawing the mature and old-growth units from future timber sales and implementing a 20″ diameter limit to protect legacy trees as the Decision Notice requires. All we know is that the agency intends to re-advertise some form of this timber sale in the future, what we don’t know is what that timber sale will look like going forward. KFA will be watching this project closely, reviewing the timber sale mark on the ground as necessary, and applying pressure to cancel both the mature and old-growth portions of the sale, and to protect mature and old-growth trees throughout the timber sale area.
Take Action:
1) We encourage folks to reach out to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to thank them for cancelling the Secret Timber Sale and encourage them to:
A) Withdraw all mature and old-growth logging units from future timber sales, including units 23, 28, 31, 100, & 511.
B) Implement thinning treatments only in plantation stands, leaving natural, fire resilient stands that survived the 2018 Klondike Fire out of any future timber sale proposal. The Purpose and Need for the Upper Briggs Restoration Project has been sufficiently met in natural stands burned at low or moderate severity in the Klondike Fire.
C) Implement a 20″ diameter limit to protect all “legacy” and “dominant” trees over 120 years old as identified in the Decision Notice.
The best way to implement the prohibitions in the Decision Notice regarding the removal of “legacy” and “dominant” trees over 120 years old, and to maintain consistency between the timber sale mark, the authorizations in the Decision Notice, and the National Old-Growth amendment, is to cancel the mature and old-growth logging units and implement a reasonable diameter limit in all commercial logging units. This diameter limit will ensure that marking crews protect the largest and oldest trees in each stand as directed in Forest Service decision documents. Based on the past timber sale mark stronger guidelines are needed to achieve the project’s objectives and to save mature and old-growth trees in the project area.
Contact: Forest Supervisor Molly Juillerat: molly.juillerat@usda.gov
2) We also encourage folks to comment on the National Old-Growth Amendment and support the protection of mature and old-growth forests from federal land logging operations. The comment period ends in just two days, on September 19, 2024. Comment here.
Support Klamath Forest Alliance
Thanks to the work of Klamath Forest Alliance old-growth forests like those found in the Secret Timber Sale are still standing all across the region. We need your support to continue fighting for the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains.
Keep grassroots conservation alive in the Klamath-Siskiyou Mountains! Your donation will support the work of some of the region’s most passionate and hard working activists. We use our love and knowledge of the region to fight for its protection! Support Klamath Forest Alliance with a donation today!
