GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — More details have come out about a proposal to increase logging on certain federal lands in Oregon to help struggling timber counties, but the idea’s future in Congress remains uncertain.
Rep. Peter DeFazio this week released maps showing how 3 million acres of forest land in Western Oregon would be divided between a special timber trust and land protected as old growth and fish and wildlife habitat.
The proposal has yet to become an actual bill, and DeFazio it is in limbo because the bill it is supposed to be attached to is stalled in committee.
Sen. Ron Wyden says the larger bill, which would increase logging on national forests nationwide, is a non-starter in the Senate, because it would suspend basic environmental laws.
