43df9746_MENT_US_DEPARTMENT_OF_INTERIOR__Body
[#] EM-3383 [Sender] Bill Durr [Subject] Western Oregon Plan Revisions [Date] 1/7/2008 18:02:04 [Body] 
January 7, 2008 Western Oregon Plan Revisions Dear Western Oregon Plan Revisions, As a sportsman in western Oregon, I am deeply concerned with the Bureau of Land Management's recently released draft version of the Western Oregon Plan Revisions. The plans outlined in the document would dramatically alter public lands management in western Oregon to the detriment of fish and wildlife and, by extension, hunting and fishing. I frequently visit Bureau of Land Management land in western Oregon, and I'm worried the BLM's plan would have a significant impact on my ability to hunt and fish in this region, and, more importantly, my ability to pass down my sporting heritage to the next generation of hunters and anglers in western Oregon. For example, reduction of streamside buffers to 25 feet would most certainly have a negative impact on our trout and salmon fisheries throughout the region. Timber harvest in close vicinity to fish-bearing or fish-spawning waters will contribute sediment to the systems, with the potential to smother fish eggs and spawning gravel. Additionally, removing streamside vegetation will reduce cover and likely result in temperature increases that could prove fatal to our fisheries. What's more, plans to construct about 1,000 miles of new roads over the next decade, and to allow 14,000 acres of clearcut logging annually could have drastic impacts on the region's struggling, but recovering, fisheries. Add in the conversion of our low-elevation oak savanna forests to conifer plantations and the creation of new off-highway-vehicle emphasis areas, and the plan becomes detrimental to our big-game herds and upland game bird populations. In short, the Western Oregon Plan Revisions are unacceptable from a hunting and angling standpoint. Ideally, the BLM would offer a full range of alternatives when it comes to the plan revisions, with all of those alternatives providing some measure of fish and wildlife protection. Finally, off-highway vehicle management should not be addressed at the region-wide level, but rather by individual BLM districts, and with a generous opportunity for public comment at the local level. Sincerely Bill Durr 3226 Valley Crest Way Forest Grove, OR 97116-1069
OREGON/WASHINGTON| BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT|US DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR