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LOGGING WITHOUT LAWS BULLETIN #90, from WAFC, the
Western Ancient Forest Campaign.  Call (202)789-2844x291 or email
WAFCDC@igc.apc.org
 
Thursday, June 27, 1996, the 335th Day of Lawless Logging
 
RIDER UNDERMINES NORTHWEST FOREST PLAN:  The Clearview
timber sale in Klamath National Forest is America's oldest timber
sale, drafted in the 70s, according to Felice Pace of the Klamath
Forest Alliance.  Under the rider's exemptions for Option 9 forests,
the Clearview timber sale was logged on steep, unstable terrain with
little or no attention given to riparian buffers and limited chance for
citizen appeal.  "It is an ugly, clearcut sale located in one of the
most important salmon/steelhead watersheds in the Klamath National
Forest," wrote Pace in the summer edition of "Wild Fish & Forests,"
published by The Wilderness Society.  Photos taken by the Alliance
reveal runoff and siltation damage in a Clear Creek tributary adjacent
to the sale.  Clear Creek is one of the last streams in California that
supports Summer Steelhead, as well as Spring and Fall Chinook
Salmon runs. 
 
OPTION 9 SALE ENDANGERS SALEM'S WATER SUPPLY: 
Willamette National Forest Service officials are meeting with city
water officials and environmentalists to discuss the threat of a 432-
acre timber sale on Salem's municipal water supply.  If logged, parts
of the Sphynx timber sale (proposed clearcuts totalling 14.4 million
board feet) located near the Santiam River could contribute to the
siltation problem that closed down Salem's water system for a few
days in February leaving 150,000 water customers high and dry. 
According to a June 25 article by Bryan Denson of the Oregonian, this
negotiation process is a real world test of Clinton's Northwest Forest
Plan.  Forest officials are blaming heavy rains for the February
closure, but city officials feel clearcut related landslides and road
building would only make problems worse. 
 
PROTESTERS READY FOR ACTION:  Forest activists camped out at
the Warner Creek fire salvage sale are preparing themselves to
defend what they consider a 'focal' point in the war over Northwest
National Forests.  Since September activists from as far away as New
York, Illinois, New Mexico, and Connecticut have been brushing up
on their civil disobedience training at their "Cascadia Free State"
camp, which blockades a Willamette National Forest Service road
leading to the sale area.  Neither the logging company nor the Forest
Service is saying when the logging will begin.  The Associated Press
reported logging will probably start soon because Warner Creek was
closed to logging for reasons of wildlife protection only through the
end of June.  Warner Creek was torched by an arsonist in 1991, and
a federal judge enjoined the sale because arson was deemed a
potential threat to the ancient forest reserves.  By overturning the
judge's decision, the rider sets a dangerous precedent encouraging
arson-for-profit.
 
OLD-GROWTH FALLS IN SISKIYOU NATIONAL FOREST:  Once
protected by a federal court, the China Left timber sale is responsible
for leveling Ancient Forests and spotted owl habitat.  Paul Fattig of
the Mail Tribune reported that 12.7 million board foot timber sale is
now being logged because section 318 of the "lawless logging" rider
makes void the Endangered Species Act, the court's injunction, and
all other environmental laws as well.  A total of 530 acres are being
logged; 274 of those acres are clearcuts.  While some efforts are being
made to reduce the negative environmental impact, such as building
fewer roads and increasing helicopter logging, the sale still threatens
water quality and fish and owl habitat.