WILLIAMS, Ore. – The Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management to stop old-growth logging in the Williams area.
KS Wild is claiming, a BLM program would remove around 500 acres of old-growth in the Williams Late Successional Reserve between Williams and Selma.
KS Wild said this would be done through gap creation and open seral logging, which would remove around 70% of the forest canopy.
The organization claims that this type of logging would remove habitat for the northern spotted owl, and pacific fisher, and could even increase fire risk in the region.
“These are the most fire-resilient and climate-resilient forests that we have left, so what we need to do is start thinning the small diameter kindling, that tinder kind of stuff closer to town, what we need to retain is the big old fire-resilient trees,” said Conservation Director for KS Wild, George Sexton.
The logging project called Penn Butte is scheduled to be auctioned off in late May.
BLM in a statement about the sale said its selective harvest methods would benefit the diversity of the forest, making a better habitat for endangered species, like the spotted owl.
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