Salvage Sales Soar

Environment

The law requiring the Forest Service to sell more dead and dying timber is dramatically increasing national forest timber sales.

Both the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and American Wildlands claim forest managers are including almost all timber sales under the program to eliminate administrative appeals.

“Numerous timber sales that were once rejected on appeal or lawsuits are resurfacing as salvage sales,” said Michael Scott, program director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. “These sales couldn’t comply with the rules so they changed the rules.”

Forest Service officials insist they are following all applicable environmental laws even though the “salvage rider” exempts those sales from those laws.

Sen. Patty Murray lost a recent bid to repeal the rider and replace it with a measure that allows some public oversight to salvage logging.

A report issued by the conservation groups says that last year the seven national forests surrounding Yellowstone harvested 5.7 million board feet of timber in salvage sales. In 1996, salvage targets have been set at 80.1 million board feet, the report says.

The sales are being offered at a time of declining timber prices, and some recent salvage sales have attracted no bids so minimum prices were lowered.

Citing General Accounting Office figures, the groups say the seven forests lost $4.9 million on timber sales between 1992 and 1994.