From our friends at Applegate Neighborhood Network (ANN):
Pickett West Timber Sale — Letters and Emails Needed
The Pickett West Timber Sale has been proposed by the Grants Pass Resource Area of the Medford District BLM. The massive timber sale extends from the lower Applegate River to the the Rogue River downstream of Merlin and into the Illinois Valley along Deer Creek near Selma. The sale is the first in a new and troubling trend towards heavy industrial logging in old-growth stands and across larger geographic areas. The agency is calling it “restoration”, but the real outcome will be far from restorative. ANN has been working to cancel or significantly alter this timber sale in the Applegate Valley and beyond. Please view the recent post on the Siskiyou Crest Blog. It explores old-growth forests proposed for logging in the Hellgate Canyon portion of the Rogue River.
Comment Period Extended! ANN and others have successfully advocated for an extension of the comment period for the Pickett West Timber Sale. The new deadline is July 17, 2017. Please send in a short comment for this sale. Ask the BLM to:
- Cancel all commercial logging units over 150 years old.
- Cancel all new road construction.
- Cancel all so-called “forest restoration” logging treatments that will reduce canopy cover to as low as 30%.
- “Maintain” all northern spotted owl habitat.
- Protect the proposed Applegate Ridge Trail and build no roads over the proposed trail corridor. Cancel units 13-8 and 15-11.
- Cancel all units in Hellgate Canyon including unit 9-1, 9-2, 9-3, 10-1, & 10-2.
Send comments to:
Grant Pass Inter-agency Office/Don Ferguson
2164 NE Spalding Ave.
Grants Pass, Oregon 97526
-or-