Place: Zane Grey roadless area (Oregon)
Threat: Logging
 The Zane Grey roadless area in southwest Oregon covers more than 46,000 acres, and is
the largest undeveloped wild forest area on the 18 million acres managed by the Bureau
of Land Management (BLM) in Oregon.
It's easy to see how the famed Western writer
and fisherman, after whom the area is named, found inspiration in this majestic place.
The Northern spotted owl, the black bear and the Southern Oregon Coho salmon all make
their homes in the Zane Grey, which is thickly forested with ancient trees and watered by
the spectacular Rogue River.
The Rogue River runs through the Zane Grey roadless area,
offering some of the best rafting in Southern Oregon. Also found in the Rogue River are
steelhead, coho and chinook salmon, and coastal cutthroat trout.
Unfortunately, the BLM plans to log a 1,400-acre parcel
of ancient forest around Kelsey and Whisky Creeks,
tributaries to the Rogue. In March 2003, the agency
recommended logging 12 million board-feet of timber in
the area.
Ignoring 140 out of 144 public comments in
opposition to logging, the BLM under the Bush
administration further opted for an increase over the
recommendation made in the Draft Environmental
Impact Statement. The Kelsey-Whisky timber sale would
build 3.7 miles of new logging roads and clearcut log 530 acres of ancient forest.
"This extreme amount of destructive logging will cause river sedimentation and soil
erosion, and damage valuable fish and wildlife habitat," says Ivan Maluski with the
Sierra Club in Oregon. "Despite overwhelming public support for protection of roadless
areas, old growth forests and salmon, the Bush administration and Bureau of Land
Management in southern Oregon are aggressively targetting old growth forests, roadless
wildlands and healthy watersheds for logging."
Allowing logging in this roadless old-growth forest undermines the intent of the 1994
Northwest Forest Plan to protect water quality and species dependent on ancient forests.
Recent Bush administration changes to the plan make logging these ancient trees easier.
"Devoting tax dollars and government resources to backcountry logging instead of
genuine community protection is the hallmark of bad Bush administration forest policy,"
says Maluski. "Using the false argument of ‘fire prevention,’ the Bush administration
proposes to log the wild forests of the Zane Grey and many other wild places across
Oregon."
There is a better way. We can protect ancient forests and the wildlife habitat and
recreational opportunities they provide. Permanent protection for the Zane Grey roadless
area is the only way to ensure this wild place will no longer be threatened by archaic old
growth logging schemes.
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