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BLM Western Oregon Plan Revision process, old-growth reserves, Northwest Forest Plan
Conservation Policy Initiative
WESTERN OREGON PLAN REVISIONS
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is revising the six western Oregon Resource Management Plans tiered to the Northwest Forest Plan in what is being called the Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) process. The BLM districts involved in this planning process include the Salem, Eugene, Roseburg, Medford, and Coos Bay Districts and the Klamath falls Resource Area of the Lakeview District.
The planning area includes over 2.5 million acres of public lands and encompasses currently protected old-growth forests, roadless areas, and vital salmon and steelhead streams.
The BLM Western Oregon Plan Revision (WOPR) process is one of the greatest threats to the Northwest Forest Plan as it could undermine protections for nearly 1 million acres of old-growth forests by lifting protections for owls and other old growth dependent species by eliminating late-successional reserves, and for salmon and steelhead by eliminating the key watersheds and riparian reserves created as part of the Aquatic Conservation Strategy.
Scoping, Planning Criteria, and State Director Guidance
During the 2005 scoping phase of the project, we submitted scoping comments to the BLM encouraging the agency to be guided by the best available credible ecological science and hold ecosystem integrity as a core value to be protected.
In 2006 the BLM released its Planning Criteria and State Director Guidance for the revision process that described the process and goals, and listed the five management alternatives BLM used as the basis for their 2007 Draft Environmental Impact Statement . Our criteria/guidance comments strongly encouraged the BLM to recognize its obligation to meet ecological and endangered species protection mandates.
Environmental Impact Statement
On August 10, 2007, the BLM released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the Revision of the Resource Management Plans of the Western Oregon Bureau of Land Management Districts. Later that fall, the National Center released a Scientific Evaluation of the Implications of the BLM's Western Oregon Plan Revisions to Forests and Watersheds. This preliminary evaluation identified a number of scientific and resource policy concerns; concluding that the preferred alternative is based on faulty assumptions, unscientific models, and an unreliable draft spotted owl recovery plan.
On January 11, 2008, the National Center submitted formal DEIS comments to the BLM documenting serious concerns regarding the effects of WOPR alternatives on native forests (particularly old-growth forests, oak woodlands and other important terrestrial habitats) and aquatic habitats. In accordance with their Clean Water Act and other responsibilities, the Environmental Protection Agency also evaluated the WOPR. The EPA comments on the DEIS raised concerns about significant impacts on drinking water and aquatic species, concluding that two of the management alternatives would "result in substantial, long-term impacts to water quality..."
With the close of the comment period, the BLM now is reviewing issues raised by the public and has indicated they expect to release a final environmental impact statement in September, followed by preparation of six district-specific decision documents. The agency intends to complete revised Resource Management Plans by the end of 2008.
