June 08, 2004
Bringing Our Message to the Source

Yesterday we had a meeting with the directors of the Medford Bureau of Land
Management (BLM), which manages approximately 800,000 acres in the Medford area of the Klamath-Siskiyou. There were five of us speaking for the trees: three from Greenpeace, a local forest ecologist/activist and a representative from KS Wild. KS Wild works regionally to protect ancient forests and has been remarkably effective at stopping timber sales through litigation. Many times, however, because of the power of the BLM, the debate turns into a numbers game of how many trees a sale should be limited to, instead of whether the sale should be stopped altogether.

We didn't know what to expect from the meeting, as I'm sure they didn't either. But the fact of the matter is that the rescue station is in a BLM proposed timber sale area, the "Kelsey-Whisky." The Kelsey-Whiskey is of particular importance because it is surrounded by more than 46,000 acres of roadless area, filled with old-growth trees. In addition, over 90% of the public comments sent to the BLM about this sale were opposed to it, yet the sale is moving ahead. This is what we went to talk about.

In discussing the sale during the meeting, one BLM representative admitted that it is within their power to stop the sale, but explained they had no intentions of doing so. Each BLM office has a yearly quota they are expected to fulfill, with the Medford office having a quota of 13 million board feet. We quickly pointed out that these quotas are not legally required in the Northwest Forest Plan, and are reflective of a timber industry wish list. There was no response.

We hope the Forest Rescue Station will help us protect Kelsey-Whiskey and serve as a stage for protecting ancient forests on all our public lands. Throughout the meeting, we remained firm that old-growth logging needs to stop, and we could do that with the support of the BLM -- or not.

Stay tuned.

Bill Richardson
Campaigns Director
Greenpeace