Columbia River Plan Reviewed

Timber industry officials view the preferred option in an ecosystem management plan for the upper Columbia River basin as support for inaction, not action.

The Upper Columbia River Basin Draft Environmental Impact Statement is the result of four years of work and about $35 million in federal funds. Together, the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management oversee 72 million acres of forest and rangelands in the interior basin.

“We believe the (scientific assessment) accurately describes the risks we all run from uncontrolled fires and unhealthy forests unless we take aggressive and immediate action,” said Jim Riley, executive vice president for the Intermountain Forest Industry Association.

But he is troubled by the lack of local management, and the creation of many new layers of bureaucracy.

“This creates an environment ripe for litigation, which means the plan gets wound up in the courts, and management actions never get on the ground. The result is inaction, which overrides the good work that the preferred alternative envisions.”

The preferred option calls for “aggressive restoration” of forest and rangeland to solve problems identified in the study.

Some scientists advocate thinning overcrowded forests stands and using prescribed fire to burn thickets of debris to help prevent destructive wildfires and insect infestations.

Western Republicans have warned the Clinton administration they will block any more funding for the effort they fear will restrict logging and grazing.

, DataTimes