WIVM Environmental Assessment (EA) was made public by the BLM December 18, 2012. Comment period is open until January 28th. Comments received will be considered for the final Decision.
The EA is available for public review on the BLM’s website at http://www.blm.gov/or/districts/medford/plans under the section titled “Documents Currently Under Public Review”.
WCFP is promoting a more progressive approach to forest management that would embrace local values.
We object to the BLMs cutting of trees over 100 years old in natural stands, as the majority of trees are only 102 years old, and recommend a 32 inch diameter limit to provide for wildlife habitat and also foster human relationships regarding aesthetics.
We recommend to drop treatments adjacent to the Lone Creek clear cutting in section 16 . The units adjacent to this clear-cutting to have no treatment to provide a refugia for displaced animals and mitigate “edge” habitat, effects and fragmentations as clear-cut areas recover. Treating BLM areas adjacent recent clear-cuts exacerbates local cumulative impacts. These effects are negative to many species in terms of population densities, gene flow and local extirpation of populations.
The BLM is proposing 4,198 acres of Hazardous Fuel Reduction (HFR) and 824 acres of Pre-commercial Thin (PCT).On average, a mere 23 acres per year burns in the watershed. This hardly warrants the massive fuels reduction with proposed PCT and HFR. There is a huge disparity in the purported threat of wildfire and what wildfires actually do in the Applegate Valley/Klamath Region. We recommend that the decision identify strategic locations for hazardous fuels reduction such as along roads, ridges, and south facing slopes that would be funded with stewardship contracting similar to successfully implemented Deer Willy project that was developed and supported by Williams area residents and others.