Clearcut Logging Will Hurt Trout, Groups Say

Umpqua River cutthroat trout could be driven to extinction by clearcut logging ordered by Congress, according to two federal agencies.

The National Marine Fisheries Service says in a memorandum that logging five federal timber sales in the Roseburg-area river basin are likely to jeopardize survival of the sea-run fish.

Biologists for the U.S. Forest Service drew the same conclusion, according to the Oct. 3 memo signed by NFMS regional director Will Stelle and sent to the Forest Service and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Most of the logging already is under way, and environmentalists say there is little they can do to stop it because of a law Congress passed in July.

“In one fell swoop, the fish in the Umpqua basin are being pushed toward extinction,” said Mark Hubbard, conservation director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council. “The NFMS memo clearly shows that these sales will destroy coho and cutthroat trout populations in the Umpqua basin.”

Coho salmon and Umpqua cutthroat are proposed for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

However, under a law Congress passed in July, nearly all the timber sales must be harvested, regardless of environmental concerns.

Congress ordered federal agencies to log the timber according to the original contract specifications, which means clearcutting.