Logging Plans Worry Town’s Residents Hurried Meeting Called To Discuss Opposition

Upset residents far outnumbered chairs at a hastily convened meeting Monday night about a new logging operation above this tiny town.

More than 40 people met at the Silver Hills Middle School library to brainstorm ways to stop more trees from falling.

The land, purchased a month ago by Kellogg logger Daniel Hagman, is one of the few roadless areas left on the Silver Valley’s I-90 corridor, said Fred Bardelli, one of the meeting’s organizers. Stretching from Shields Gulch on the east to Meyer Gulch on the west, it provides a green backdrop for the east end of the town.

But because it’s private property, both the city and the county say they have no right to intervene.

“You wouldn’t believe all the people I’ve talked to who’ve passed the buck,” said Ida Bailey, who serves with Bardelli on a committee to fight the logging.

Attendees suggested delaying tactics ranging from a barrage of complaints about the noise (some said they’d been awakened by machinery at 6:30 a.m.) to blocking access to the forest with parked cars.

“Any endangered species up there?” asked one attendee.

“I don’t know…anybody got a spotted owl?” Bardelli joked.

In a letter to Osburn Mayor Bob McPhail written Oct. 27, Hagman promised to cut in a way that would leave no unsightly scars. But those at Monday’s meeting were quick to bring up examples of Hagman’s past work that they say belied the assurance.

“The handwriting’s on the wall as far as what we’re looking at,” Bardelli said.

He said he already has enlisted the support of Al Isaacson, a consulting hydrologist and teacher at Spokane Falls Community College. Inspecting the operation, Isaacson photographed what he believed were numerous violations of good logging practice, and predicted that even minor logging could lead to substantial increases in runoff in an unnamed gulch between Shields and Meyer that already floods the homes below it from time to time.

Isaacson offered to help present the residents’ case to the Idaho Department of Lands, the only agency that seems to have the authority to stop the operation, Bardelli said.

But he said it would be quicker to simply buy the land from Hagman, who’s asking $300,000 for his approximately 50 acres.

No one reached for a billfold.

“Bet he bought it for $25,000,” muttered one attendee.

In a week, Bardelli and Bailey have collected more than 200 names on a petition condemning the logging.

They’re also exploring legal options.

Meanwhile, Bardelli urged attendees to keep “the pressure on” with phone calls and letters.

“We’ve got to stop this. He’s going to reap the profits and we’re going to pay for the rest of our lives,” Bailey said.