Clearcutting Cutts

Fisheries

Umpqua River cutthroat trout could be driven to extinction by clearcut logging ordered by Congress, according to U.S. Forest Service biologists and the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Logging in five federal timber sales in the Roseburg-area river basin also are likely to harm salmon and steelhead runs.

Environmentalists say there is little to stop the mandated clearcuts because the logging provision Congress passed in July undercuts applicable environmental laws.