Grants Pass, Ore — An auction for logging rights to hundreds of acres of Bureau of Land Management property drew a crowd of protesters in Grants Pass.
Four timber sales were up for grabs including 318 acres of the “Pickett-Hog” project located between Selma and Murphy.
The BLM says the land needs logging to prevent fires.
Protestors were concerned about the thinning of old growth trees.
“These are the fire resilient trees, they have thicker bark, they have adaptations to fire and they’re the ones that are going to produce the most seed to rejuvenate the forest after fires.” said Jeanine Moy with the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildland Center.
“We’re really looking at trying to create a more healthy forest, a forest that has diversity in the number of trees, number of species, and also the plant and wildlife species.” said Maria Thi Mai with the Bureau of Land Management.
The BLM says ‘old growth’ is determined by factors like the width of the tree and not just age.
The rights to the 318 acre project sold to Boise-Cascade for just under $650,000.
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