January 10, 2008

U.S. Bureau of Land Management
Western Oregon Plan Revision
P.O.B. 2965
Portland, Oregon 97208

I am writing the Bureau in regards to Alternative 2 of the Western Oregon Plan Revision.  It has been brought to my attention that T. 19S. R.06W. Sec. 17 has been designated a late successional management area and is now scheduled for harvest.  I request that the Bureau review this decision and that this area be removed from current and future harvest plans.

This old-growth forest near Crow is one of the oldest stands of native forest in the Eugene region.  Its 300 - 400-year-old Douglas firs stand proudly amidst very old western red cedar and western hemlock and mix with younger trees of diverse age groups.  The stand has a very diverse understory of shrubs, herbaceous plants, mosses, and fungi and is habitat acknowledged suitable for both spotted owl and the marbled murrelet.  It provides recreation for local people and serves as a site for regional environmental education efforts.  These multiple functions are qualities that far exceed its board-feet potential and the stand warrants a review by the Bureau that would lead to it being removed from any current and future harvest plans.

I am frustrated that we continue to believe that removing old growth forest is in the best interest of the forest and that their exploitation spurs regional economic development.  Can it be that we must sacrifice the remnants of the region's old growth forests to satisfy national and international lumber needs?  Are we so short of second growth forests and plantations that these tiny fragments, which provide current generations a minuscule perspective of what were once the region's grand native forests, that these remnants must be mowed down for the sake of a few board feet and a pocket full of cash?  If such is the case, we are poor custodians of natural antiquities and we will be chastised by future generations for our rapacious, often insensitive behavior.

With these points in mind, I await the Bureau's change of action to remove this stand from the current harvest plan and equally look forward to reviewing its effort to protect this stand into the future.

Thank you for your consideration.

Thank you for your consideration.

Michael Jones
842 Page St.
Berkeley, CA 94710

mishaj@vlad.ru