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/* Written 11:05 PM  Aug 24, 1994 by nec in igc:econews */

Title: Option Nine Begins Trickling Down

by Tim McKay

On the eve of the 50th anniversary of its mascot Smokey Bear, the
Forest Service braved lawsuits, layoffs and other problems to
begin implementing the Clinton forest plan--Option Nine--on the
17 so-called spotted owl forests in northern California, Oregon
and Washington.

Locally, Six Rivers Forest Service announced $843,000 will be
awarded by next month for 28 watershed-restoration contracts on
the middle fork of the Smith River, the south fork of the
Trinity, the north fork of the Eel and Bluff Creek. Four
contracts totaling $140,000 already have been let on Six Rivers.

Throughout California, 305 Forest Service employees took the
opportunity for early retirement, part of the 2,285 who did so
nationwide as the agency seeks to trim down. More early outs may
be offered in October to bring total reductions to 7,500.

As the Forest Service geared up to celebrate a half-century of
its campaign against forest fires through the use of the Smokey
icon, tragic blazes plagued the agency.

Fourteen young fire-fighters died in a single fire in Colorado
last month, most of them from Prineville, Oregon, home of a
regional fire center.

Local Blazes

Lightning caused more than 80 fires on the Six Rivers, Klamath
and Shasta-Trinity national forests in late July, with 2,000
fire-fighters on the lines at press time. The largest
concentration of fires, the Dillon Complex, had 18 separate fires
on about 3,500 acres of rugged terrain.

Post-fire salvage sales in protected areas under Option Nine
could pose another test for the Clinton forest plan, which
already faces legal challenges that will be argued before Seattle
Federal District Court Judge William Dwyer on September 12.

Dwyer lifted his 1991 ban on logging in the spotted owl forests
in June, and then immediately scheduled hearings on a flurry of
lawsuits against Option Nine. Despite the removal of the
injunction, few new timber sales are expected for at least the
next two years.

In an unrelated development, Forest Service Chief Jack Ward
Thomas approved the move of the California region's headquarters
from San Francisco to the Mare Island naval shipyard in Vallejo,
where nuclear submarines used to be built.

Mare Island is one of at least six San Francisco Bay Area
military facilities being closed by the Clinton administration.

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From ECONEWS, Newsletter of the Northcoast Environmental Center,
August, 1994. Write for a free copy of the print version:
879 9th St., Arcata, CA 95521; e-mail: nec@igc.apc.org.
Reprints are OK in non-profit publications and networks if
credit is given to ECONEWS and the author; please send us a copy.
All others must write for permission.
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