Area residents speak out against Indian Creek proposal
A controversial plan that opponents say would cut off public access to about 31-thousand acres of forest land and render it off-limits for logging got a second hearing last week in Mapleton. More than 200 people showed up to tell U.S. Forest Service officials what they thought of the Indian Creek Landscape Management Project. One of those was Thane Beers who says the plan would change management of the timber from “second growth”… eligible for logging sales… into “old growth” which is off limits.
Thane Beers – “It’s big government. People don’t understand that the old forest, it’s beautiful to look at but it doesn’t really support that much life. You know; it’s not for the wildlife. The wildlife needs openings.”
Beers and other opponents of the plan presented a petition with more than one-thousand signatures on it. The petition called for a more thorough economic analysis of the plan and retaining more public access. Beers also said the salmon habitat restoration plan on Indian Creek called for in the plan would cause more erosion and negative impact downstream… ultimately doing more damage to salmon than if they did nothing.
The deadline for input to the Forest Service about this plan is April First. A link to the plan and supporting documents can be found here.
