Talks begin on Biscuit salvage plan

WASHINGTON – Environmentalists, the Forest Service and timber industry groups opened mediation talks on Thursday in an attempt to settle lawsuits over logging old-growth trees burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire in southern Oregon.

The talks, being held in Eugene, Ore., and led by U.S. Magistrate Thomas Coffin, aim to clear a long-running dispute over one of the largest sales of federal timber in recent years. Lumber mills want access to the burned timber, but environmental activists say the Bush administration wants to log far more than the scorched landscape can stand.

Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., said this week that if the mediation does not succeed, he will offer legislation to prevent lawsuits from interfering with the logging. Environmentalists called Smith’s comments unnecessary.

“He’s poisoned the atmosphere of this mediation,” said Steve Pedery of the Oregon Natural Resources Council, one of the groups involved in the talks.

But Chris West, an industry spokesman, called Smith’s plan fair game.

“If people aren’t serious about finding a resolution, there is another alternative,” West said.

Talks were to continue today.

The Forest Service plan for Biscuit fire salvage logging calls for removing 370 million board feet of timber and reforesting 31,000 acres.

Last week, a federal appeals court blocked six timber sales totaling 47 million board feet on 6,600 acres in old-growth forest reserves until a lawsuit brought by environmentalists is decided.