The new plan aims to help the region’s economy while considering environmental issues.
A new federal plan designed to boost the western Oregon logging economy is still being scrutinized by some environmental groups.
On Wednesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar put forward the administration’s plan to balance the economic needs of rural logging communities with environmental mandates for about 2.5 million acres of forests in western Oregon administered by the Bureau of Land Management. He proposed a modest, short-term increase in logging, focusing on projects that wouldn’t harm imperiled species. With the announcement, Salazar tried to assure Oregon mill owners of a predictable supply of wood in the coming year.
About 10 percent of Oregon’s timber harvest comes from federal lands, which includes those managed by the BLM and U.S. Forest Service. Most of the rest comes from private land.
Read the full story at OregonLive.com.
{biztweet}Oregon forest plan{/biztweet}
