Just don’t do it
Oregon’s logging codes might aim to protect
fish, wildlife and water quality, but they can’t always protect
people.
A Coos Bay company recently defied a
request from the state Forestry Department that loggers voluntarily
stop clear-cutting slide-prone slopes above highways and homes. The
state’s request came in response to last winter’s mudslides that
killed five people and damaged more than a dozen homes in southern
Oregon.
But West Coast Land and Timber Co.
distributed a leaflet to landowners urging them to ignore the
state. “Caution…government has proposed new laws that could
infringe on your rights as a private landowner to harvest your own
timber,” said the flier. Officials have so far received seven
logging notices from private individuals to harvest timber from
slide-prone slopes, but they can’t say if the notices were prompted
by the leaflet.
State Sen. Bob Kintigh,
R-Springfield, denounced the flier: “I deplore this tactic to get
people to sell timber.”
Steve Karolyi, West
Coast Timber’s manager, defended the company, saying, “Once these
people (environmental groups) get their foot in the door, you lose
your rights to log your land.” Besides, Karolyi adds, he is taking
measures to prevent slides by following Forest Service regulations,
including creating buffer zones along creeks and waterways.
Meanwhile, the Oregon Department of Forestry
has asked the Legislature to pass a bill enabling the state to bar
logging in unstable lands. A decision is expected in the next few
months.
*Jamie
Murray
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Just don’t do it.
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