Local residents protest the Nedsbar Timber Sale auction on September 22, 2016.Photo: www.timdawphotography.com Last week the Medford District BLM proposed to sell the Nedsbar Timber Sale to the highest bidder, offering some of the last roadless forests in the Applegate Valley to private timber interests for $68 per thousand board feet. The agency was offering 3.4 million board feet of public forest for a minimum bid of $231,014.60. The community of the Applegate Valley believes these intact forests are priceless, and in response organized a large protest at the timber sale auction on Thursday, September 22, 2016.  With resistance to the sale growing, 75 residents of the Rogue and Applegate Valleys attended the rally, advocating that the BLM withdraw the sale and protect the area’s important biological and recreational values. Photo: www.timdawphotography.com Protestors held signs, sang songs, held mock timber auctions, shared information about the...

Many Applegate Valley community members participated in the planning process for the Nedsbar Timber Sale. Based on a review of pubic comments received by the BLM, it appears that the vast majority of the local community is opposed to the Nedsbar Timber Sale as it has been approved. 99% Oppose the Nedsbar Timber Sale In the recent Decision Record for the Nedsbar Timber Sale released by the Medford District BLM, the agency approved Alternative 4 with only slight modifications. Alternative 4 is the sweetheart deal for the timber industry, but has been strongly opposed for over two years by residents in the Applegate Valley community. The project demonstrates the BLM’s lack of collaborative capacity and inability to incorporate community concerns into public land management projects. Still stuck in the past, Medford BLM is refusing to move forward with us into a collaborative, more ecologically sustainable future. The Nedsbar Timber Sale was proposed in the...

This photograph shows the first Nedsbar field trip with the BLM and the public in November, 2014. Many local residents worked to have their voice heard and their values respected by the BLM in the Nedsbar Planning Process. Interest in the Nedsbar Timber Sale in the Applegate Valley community has been high due to the diverse and important resource values present in the planning area. BLM Releases the  Nedsbar Timber Sale Decision Record After two years of effort and thousands of volunteer hours invested by the Applegate Valley community, the BLM has chosen to disregard the community’s comments and concerns about the Nedsbar Forest Management Project (i.e. Nedsbar Timber Sale), as well as the Community Alternative, Alternative 5. The Community Alternative was widely supported in the Applegate Valley where 330 people signed on in support.  The BLM released its Decision Record (DR) for the Nedsbar Timber Sale on Thursday, September 1, 2016, and...

The Wellington Butte Roadless Area and LWC along with many other special places in the Applegate Valley would be open to logging, road building and motorized recreation in the new Resource Management Plan (RMP). The BLM has released a new Resource Management Plan (RMP), intended to direct management activities throughout western Oregon, including the Applegate Valley. The implications of this new plan for our forests, rivers, wildlife, wildands and communities are concerning to say the least. The plan will turn back many important environmental protections and eliminate land management designations that promote community-based collaboration in the Applegate Valley. The new RMP would eliminate or reduce many of the environmental protections of the Northwest Forest Plan. The plan would reduce streamside logging buffers by half, impacting 300,000 acres currently protected as Riparian Reserves. Commercial logging in Riparian Reserves will not only harm water quality and...

Nedsbar Timber Sale: Public Comment Guide Unit 28-10B in the Bald Mountain Roadless Area. Trees up to 42″ in diameter are marked for removal. The stand is naturally fire resistant with large well spaced trees, tall canopies, and minimal understory fuels. Logging will remove late seral characteristics while increasing understory fuel loads and fire hazards. On July 2, 2016, the Medford District BLM released the Nedsbar Forest Management Environmental Assessment (EA). The EA analyzes the predicted environmental impacts of various action alternatives. The primary alternative proposed by the BLM is Alternative 4, which would target some of the most intact, fire resistant forests in our region. The alternative would include 1,500 acres of commercial logging in the Little Applegate and Upper Applegate Valleys.  If implemented, Alternative 4 will increase fire hazards by removing excessive levels of forest canopy and large, fire resistant trees.   The...