Biscuit Roadless Sales

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* Two New Biscuit Sales Planned Inside Roadless Areas

Earlier this month, the Forest Service announced they are planning two new timber sales at Biscuit within the North and South Kalmiopsis Inventoried Roadless Areas, despite the fact that roadless wildlands are supposed to be shielded from logging while state Governors and the Bush Administration negotiate state specific roadless conservation policies.

These new sales, called Mike’s Gulch and Blackberry, are the first timber sales in Inventoried Roadless Areas in the lower 48 since President Clinton signed the Roadless Rule into law in 2000. Oregon’s Governor, Ted Kulongoski, has written two different letters to the Forest Service in the last year demanding they halt plans to log in Inventoried Roadless Areas in Biscuit, and yet these sales are still moving forward. These sales come on the heals of recent scientific reports about how post-fire clearcutting in the Biscuit area has harmed natural recovery, increased future fire fuels and cost the American taxpayer more than 14 million dollars.

Intact roadless forests are very rare and are essential for maintaining species diversity, they are not places for clearcuts and tree farms. We need your help to stop these sales before it's too late! Call him today and again on Wednesday, March 29th, and join thousands of other people from across the US as part of the Nation-wide day of action to protect Biscuit Roadless Areas!

Call Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth and tell him to:

1. Immediately withdraw all roadless logging proposals in the Siskiyou National Forest including the Mike’s Gulch and Blackberry logging sales.

2. Stop breaking your promise! Restore a moratorium on roadless area logging while state specific rules are developed.

Forest Service Chief Bosworth
USDA Forest Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC 20250-0003

Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Also, please consider taking a few minutes to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper regarding logging in the Biscuit Area, as well as the Post-Disturbance logging bills that are in Congress right now. For more information on either of these topics, and to find the most recent news on the status of these sales, go to our website: www.cascwild.org.

Letters to the Editor:

Register Guard: [e-mail]

The Oregonian: [e-mail]

* Oregon's Governor Demands Protection for Biscuit Roadless Areas

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, approved in 2000, gave thousands of acres of pristine forests on federal land permanent protection, at least until recently. The Bush administration is trying to remove the Roadless Rule and give each state's governor the right to decide wether or not to grant permanent protection to their state's Inventoried Roadless Areas.

Thankfully here in Oregon, our Governor, Ted Kulongoski, has fought to stop Roadless Area logging in the Biscuit area and has written a letter earlier this month to the Forest Service demanding they abandon their plans to move forward with these two new sales (to see a copy of his letter, go to our website, www.cascwild.org). Gov. Kulongoski is also attempting to go through the Bush administration's state specific process to petition for permanent Roadless Area protection.

The administration had stated earlier that it would "cooperatively conserve inventoried roadless areas within our national forests" and provide "interim protection to roadless areas, pending the development of state specific rules." But by moving forward with these two sales in the North and South Kalmiopsis Roadless Areas, the Bush administration is attempting to log these areas before Gov. Kulongoski can officially protect them.

In addition to calling Chief Bosworth, please consider calling Gov. Kulongoski and thank him for his letter. Also, encourage him to continue to fight for protection of all of Oregon's Inventoried Roadless Areas.

Governor Ted Kulongoski
[phone]
Or, email his natural resources staff, Jessica Hamilton at: [e-mail]