A judge’s ruling ordering U.S. Bureau of Land Management to sell more timber in the Roseburg and Medford BLM districts may impact harvest levels in Coos Bay.
Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that BLM has failed to consistently offer as much timber as called for in its 1995 resource management plans for the Medford and Roseburg districts since 2004.
The ruling focused exclusively on the Medford and Roseburg BLM Districts both part of the Western Oregon BLM but ignores the overall performance of the region which sold 205.4 MMF (million board feet) which exceeds the ASQ (Allowable Sale Quantity) of 203 MMF approved by Congress. The Medford and Roseburg BLM districts were below quota but volume targets have simply been shifted from southern Oregon to Salem, Eugene and Coos Bay.
Increasing sales in the two southern Oregon districts may serve to decrease cuts in the other districts including Coos Bay. The BLM is often characterized as a villain contributing to the economic malaise afflicting timber dependent counties for not selling off enough timber. The chart below reflects BLM performance under the North West Forest Plan from 1995 to 2012.
