Timber Company Appeals Forest Protection

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Saturday September 23, 2006 4:46 AM
AP Photo ORJB902
By JEFF BARNARD
Associated Press Writer
GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) - An Oregon timber company has appealed the reinstatement of protections on 58.5 million acres of roadless areas in national forests, saying it should be able to continue logging trees burned in a 2002 wildfire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.


Silver Creek Timber owner John West said he had no opinion on future logging in roadless areas, but felt he should be allowed finish the salvage project.


On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Laporte in San Francisco overturned the 2005 Bush administration rule that gave states a chance to seek logging, mining and drilling inside areas of national forests that have been untouched due to their remote and rugged terrain.


In 2001, the Clinton administration barred most logging and other development within roadless areas to protect them as prime fish and wildlife habitat and sources of clean water.


West said the Clinton rule allowed logging after fires.