Volume 13, Number 2
Summer 2001

News From the Networker

Conservation Groups and Bitterroot Residents Unite to Oppose Timber Sale
By Ryan Shaffer, AWR Ecosystem Defense

Last summer's wildland fires burned 307,000 acres on the Bitterroot National Forest in Western Montana. Most of those acres had been deprived of this essential and natural phenomenon for far too long. With the possible exception of some West Coast rainforests, wildland fire has been a major force in the evolution of forests in the Northwest, shaping landscapes, creating habitat, and maintaining productivity. History and recent research have demonstrated that the large majority of burned areas will recover naturally without any significant human intervention, although some post-fire human intervention may be necessary on sites impacted by roads, timber harvest, and grazing.

The Bitterroot National Forest, the agency responsible for overseeing this recovery, has released their draft plan for "Burned Area Recovery." The plan will commit the agency to improving watershed conditions on roaded lands and assist in the revegetation of lands previously impacted from logging. This work will repair damage caused by past management in the burned areas. However, the most noteworthy component of the recovery plan is the proposed logging of these burned forests, a practice that has been deemed antithetical to recovery. The magnitude of logging associated with the "Burned Area Recovery" plan is staggering. One section of the proposal would put 279 million board feet of timber on the chopping block. This is nearly three times the amount of timber sold from the Bitterroot in the 11-year period from 1988 to 1999.

Fire swept through logged areas

While all of us know that logging on National Forests is nothing new, framing a sale of this size as a component of burned area recovery is a new and creative twist on the part of the agency. The Forest Service insists that more logging will help to lessen the severity of future wildland fires. But a review of where last summer's Bitterroot fires burned shows that is simply not the case. The Valley/Skalkaho fire complex was one of the largest fires in the country last summer. Much of the national forest land in this area (76.6 percent) is managed for timber production and much of the private land is owned by the Darby Timber Company, and has been heavily cut over. These fires started in roaded areas, and spread through heavily logged forests. All six of the fires in Montana that destroyed homes and buildings last year started in extensively roaded, developed and logged areas. Five were man-caused. These facts highlight what the scientific literature has well documented - that logging does not prevent or slow fires, and in some cases, can aggravate them.

The Conservation and Local Economy Alternative

Regional Conservation groups including Friends of the Bitterroot, Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Native Forest Network, Ecology Center, Sierra Club, and Bitterroot Valley residents have recognized the misguided nature of this recovery plan and developed a citizens alternative to recovery in the Bitterroot. The Conservation and Local Economy Alternative is driven by recommendations of the scientific community and premised upon the understanding that the needs of the forests and people of the Bitterroot valley can be met most effectively without large-scale post-fire logging.

The Conservation and Local Economy Alternative prioritizes ecosystem integrity and processes by facilitating natural recovery and succession. Unroaded areas and areas not intensely managed prior to the fire will be allowed to naturally recover. Active recovery efforts of road rehabilitation, road removal, stream bank stabilization, and in some cases, replanting, will be completed in areas that have been significantly affected by past management. Weed control will be accomplished by applying preventative measures in burned areas while actively reducing populations where weeds have occurred prior to the fire.

The Conservation and Local Economy Alternative provides home protection through a Homeowner Education Program and a community Conservation Corps. The Corps will provide both hazard assessment and fire hazard reduction assistance, free of charge. This alternative will also provide for the collection of scientific field data that will greatly increase our understanding of fire. Several study areas will be selected for different conditions and management approaches, utilizing appropriate experimental design, data collection, and analysis. The outcome of the Bitterroot National Forest proposal may have far-reaching impacts beyond the soil, water, flora, and fauna of the Bitterroot Mountains. Conventional wisdom is that this is a precedent setting case for the Forest Service. If 279 million boardfeet are cut here in the name of "Burned Area Recovery," similar proposals will flare up with each new fire.

Judge halts Old-Growth Logging on State Lands
By Arlene Montgomery, FRIENDS OF THE WILD SWAN

Judge Sherlock of the District Court in Helena, Montana agreed with Friends of the Wild Swan, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and The Ecology Center that the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's (DNRC) change in old-growth policy constituted a "rule" subject to the provisions of the Montana Administrative Procedures Act (MAPA). MAPA defines a rule as "each agency regulation, standard, or statement of general applicability that implements, interprets, or prescribes law or policy or describes the organization, procedures, or practice requirements of an agency."

The DNRC's Biodiversity Guidance applies to all timber sales on state lands and constitutes the implementation of how old-growth will be managed on state forest lands. Therefore, the court reasoned that it implements and interprets the Department's old-growth biodiversity retention and timber harvesting policy contained in the State Forest Land Management Plan and should have gone through the public rulemaking process instead of being developed behind closed doors.

As a result of the ruling the DNRC is prohibited from logging any old-growth until it complies with the requirements of MAPA, which includes public notice, a comment period and public hearings. Under the guise of implementing a law passed by the 2001 legislature (SB 354), DNRC and the Board of Land Commissioners (Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Auditor and Superintendent of Public Instruction) are attempting to sidestep the Judge's order by issuing a temporary rule that expires on October 1, 2001.

Tom Schultz, Chief of DNRC's Forest Management Bureau, told the Land Board: "The intent is to address the injunction and SB 354 ... giving operators three months this summer to conduct harvesting operations on sales that have already been approved and sold." These are the same sales that are currently under injunction. The public process for this temporary rule had a very short comment period and two hearings (both in Missoula) that were not publicized. The groups do not believe that this temporary rule satisfies the court's order. Update.

NREPA co-sponsor visits the Northern Rockies
By Kaz Thea, AWR Sun Valley Office

Congressman Christopher Shays (R-CT), accompanied by his wife Betsi and daughter Jeramy, joined AWR staff visits states that contain a significant portion of lands included in the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act (NREPA). As the NREPA lead sponsor, Rep. Shays feels the need to better understand the ecological processes and land management activities in the region. He is also interested in the communities of the Northern Rockies, especially those dependent on subsidized resource extraction, public lands grazing, and tourism. This trip gave Rep. Shays the opportunity to meet with other conservationists who support NREPA and work to protect its various components.

Project Lighthawk, a non-profit organization that provides an aerial perspective of critical environmental issues, coordinated three educational flights that gave Rep. Shays a bird's-eye view of the good, the bad, and the ugly of land management in the west. In flights to Hamilton, MT, La Grande, OR, and over the ranges east of Ketchum, ID, we surveyed some of the lower 48's most amazing expanses of Wilderness and roadless areas: the Frank Church Wilderness of No Return, the Cove-Mallard roadless area, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, Boulder-White Cloud roadless area, and the Wilderness portion of Hells Canyon. Flying over the Bitterroot provided incredible views of thousands of acres that burned during last summer's fire.

Shays views a troubled landscape

In flights over the Rockies one inevitably witnesses contrasting landscapes, disfigured by unsightly logging roads, clearcuts, and mines. Rep. Shays saw firsthand the soil erosion on hills and mountainsides that choke streams and rivers and fragment our land. He was shocked by the density of the logging roads, "the way they spiraled up the mountain," and the severity of their impacts, noting that on some mountains "there are more roads than mountain." These aerial views helped him understand the importance of wildlife corridors and the need for large-scale restoration.

Mining and fish don't mix

The flight to Hamilton took us over two large open-pit mines perched on tributaries to the Salmon River, outside the town of Challis. This free-flowing river is home to Chinook salmon, which travel more than 900 miles from the ocean to reach their spawning grounds in central Idaho. Storage of acid rock waste piles, acid drainage, and heavy metals that sit in toxic pools of water dammed by processed ore are serious threats to the health of watersheds.

Flying to Hells Canyon, we viewed several of the controversial dams on the Snake River. Dams block migration and are the main culprits of reduced salmon numbers in our region. Following this flight, and accompanied by conservationists from Idaho Rivers United and Save Our Wild Salmon, Rep. Shays visited a hatchery to learn about the biology of salmonoids and the problems associated with "agency produced" salmon.

The vast variety of habitat types of the Northern Rockies include the high desert landscapes of Central Idaho, seriously impacted by livestock grazing, most of which occurs on public grazing allotments. Rep. Shays was not previously aware that high desert ecosystems were among the landscape types of the Northern Rockies bioregion and was surprised to learn that livestock grazing was a significant issue on public lands included in NREPA. Visiting a decommissioned ranch on the East Fork of the Salmon, managed by the Western Watershed Project, he examined the extensive impacts of this subsidized industry: the compaction of soil; the extensive fencing that disrupts the natural migration patterns of wildlife; the obliteration of native vegetation and introduction of noxious weeds; and the destruction of riparian areas,adversely impacting threatened and endangered fish. Another practice destructive to riparian areas and fish populations is the extensive system of water diversion on public land, used to support the crops of hay and alfalfa for livestock.

Networking and education

When not in a four-seater plane, Rep. Shays was with representatives from local conservation groups and citizens who are concerned with public land issues. In Hamilton and La Grande, he met with Friends of the Bitterroot, Hells Canyon Preservation Council, Sierra Club, and AWR advisory board members John Craighead Sr., Clif Merritt, and Stewart Brandborg. During his tour of central Idaho, Rep. Shays was introduced to activists from American Lands Alliance, The Idaho Conservation League, and the Nature Conservancy.

In an effort to have an uncolored view of the issues, he also met with individuals from Challis, ID, a community that generally (and often vehemently) opposes conservation efforts. In fact, Rep. Shays and his family spent a good portion of a day at a benefit in Challis talking with locals including several ranchers and a manager of the Thompson mine.

Adding a little excitement to what was already a successful and enjoyable visit with Rep. Shays and his family, we rafted the upper Salmon River. Rep. Shays' last night in the Rockies featured dinner with citizens from Hailey and Ketchum, including the Mayor of Hailey, Idaho State Senators, and county commissioners, followed by a slide show on NREPA later that evening.

We are grateful to have had a week with Congressman Shays, to show him in the field the critical issues threatening the integrity of the Northern Rockies bioregion. He is now better equipped to discuss with his colleagues the need for public lands protection. Thanks, Christopher Shay, for sponsoring NREPA and for taking time to tour the Northern Rockies.

Other groups and individuals participating in Rep. Shays' visit included American Lands Alliance, Conservation Geography, Friends of the Clearwater, Friends of the Wild Swan, Idaho Conservation League, The Nature Conservancy, Steve Pauley, White Cloud Council, The Wilderness Society and Winter Wildlands Coalition.