Feb 09, 1999

Timber sales spilling red ink

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Three forests in Washington state and Oregon are among the biggest money losers in the Forest Service's commercial timber sales program, a conservation group said Monday. The Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington state was the third biggest loser, posting nearly $4.1 million in red ink in 1997, The Wilderness Society said. Winema National Forest in Oregon ranked fourth, losing nearly $3.8 million, and Malheur National Forest in Oregon ranked 10th, losing more than $2 million, the group said. "From New England to Alaska, taxpayers are taking a bath," said William H. Meadows, the group's president. The Wilderness Society said the commercial timber sales program lost $45.4 million in 1997, with 83 of the Forest Service's 104 forests losing money. Profitable forests earned $65.8 million, while losing forests posted $111.2 million in losses. The group has annually released its financial assessment of the commercial logging program since 1986. But the Forest Service contends the commercial timber program actually turned a $7.2 million profit. The difference is that the Forest Service does not calculate the 25 percent share of timber proceeds it gives counties as part of its costs in the program. The Wilderness Society does include many of those payments in its estimate. However, the Forest Service said that all types of timber sales -- not just commercial ones -- resulted in a combined net loss of more than $88 million in 1997. The agency said the loss was due to an accounting change in which it calculated road-building costs as part of the logging program. The Forest Service doesn't earn more on its commercial timber sales program because it does less clear cutting, harvests trees more selectively and takes other steps aimed at helping the environment, said Chris Wood, an agency spokesman. "As it evolves into a more stewardship oriented program ... the usefulness of looking at profitability decreases," Wood said. The Wilderness Society contends the Forest Service should place a moratorium on road building in 60 million acres of roadless areas -- in part because of the logging losses. But a staff member for the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Forest Service losses aren't due to roads, but because of inefficient management and the Forest Service's goal of putting conservation ahead of profits in the logging program. "The fact they are selling timber is incidental to the land management objectives they are pursuing," Mark Rey said. Other forests the Society ranks as top 10 money losers include: the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, which lost more than $42 million; the Kootenai National Forest in Montana, which lost more than $7.4 million; four Idaho forests -- the Nez Perce, Boise, Clearwater and Payette -- which lost between $2.2 million and $2.7 million; and the North Carolina National Forest, which lost about $2.1 million.

Grounded ship leaks fuel

COOS BAY, Ore. (AP) -- Fuel was found to be leaking from a grounded cargo ship Monday, suddenly shifting the top priority from protecting the 639-foot vessel to protecting miles of environmentally sensitive beaches. More than 50 people who have been standing by in case of a leak began mopping up congealed bunker fuel that has spread as far as nine miles north of the site where the New Carissa has been mired in the surf since Thursday. A Coast Guard inspection team was on board the empty ship looking for the source of the leak, which apparently is coming from the ship's double-lined fuel tanks, which hold 359,000 gallons of bunker fuel and 37,400 gallons of diesel. "We know it's coming from the ship," said Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Gene Maestas. "We don't know where on the ship it is coming from." Meanwhile, rough seas slowed the arrival of the specially equipped tug Salvage Chief, which will join in efforts to haul the New Carissa from the beach. It was expected to reach Coos Bay Monday evening after a break in the weather finally allowed it to leave Astoria, 200 miles away, on Sunday afternoon. The spill of bunker oil was first spotted by state park rangers who noticed an oily sheen near the North Point Jetty. There have been no reports of oiled birds, but the North Spit, where the ship is grounded, is a wintering and nesting habitat for the Western snowy plover, a threatened species. Shellfish are also a concern. Crews equipped to deal with oiled wildlife were standing by. The ship, owned by a Japanese firm, registered in Panama and staffed with a Filipino crew of 23, grounded Thursday morning about 150 yards offshore. The crew was removed by the Coast Guard on Friday. The ship is aground in an area known as the Leberti Hole, considered a prime crab-fishing area. It has not been determined why the ship washed ashore, though local pilots have speculated it had insufficient power to overcome strong winds and currents as it waited for a break in the weather that would allow it to enter Coos Bay to pick up a cargo of wood chips. The captain and crew were given urine tests to determine any presence of alcohol or drugs, a routine precaution in such circumstances, but no results have been released. The Coast Guard has closed the beach from Horsfall Beach where the ship is aground south to the north jetty of Coos Bay.

Forest Service chief wants mining ban in MT

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Forest Service wants a two-year ban on new hard-rock mining claims on 429,000 acres of national forest land in Montana, on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains. "The Forest Service has a long and storied history of working to protect the incredible fish, wildlife, cultural and scenic resources of this area," Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck said in announcing the move Wednesday in his second annual "State of the Forests" speech at the University of Montana in Missoula. "I intend to continue that tradition," Dombeck said in disclosing his request to Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt, whose agency oversees mining operations. The Forest Service also will cut back on roaduilding, rely less on logging revenues to fund agency operations and launch a new effort to protect and restore watersheds on forest land, he said. The Montana land being withdrawn from new mining claims includes 400,000 acres in the Lewis and Clark National Forest and 29,000 acres in the Helena National Forest. "The value of the Rocky Mountain Front goes well beyond that of any oil or minerals we could extract from it," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., who had asked the Forest Service to consider placing the area off limits. The Front is known for its wildlife, including elk, bighorn sheep and grizzlies. There will be a two-year period of public comment before the agency decides whether to bar new mining claims there for up to 20 years. The Forest Service announced in 1997 that oil and gas drilling would be banned in the area for 10 to 15 years. There were roughly 104 mining claims on the land in 1996, but nearly all have been inactive, said Forest Service spokesman Chris Wood. The old claims could still be exercised if they are proven valid, Wood said. Dombeck also pledged to protect other forest-wilderness areas. Jon Savelle is the Journal's environment editor. He can be contacted at (206) 622-8272.

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