Logging proposal near Crater Lake moves forward despite landmark public opposition

Environment Oregon

In late September, the US Forest Service announced that a logging proposal around Oregon’s only national park has moved forward, despite unprecedented public opposition.

The Bybee Timber Sale, a controversial proposal to conduct extensive logging on thousands of acres near Crater Lake National Park, has met with strong resistance from Oregonians. Last February, Environment Oregon collected and delivered 10,000 public comments opposing the logging project—bringing the total number of comments to over 11,000. But in late September, Rob MacWhorter, forest supervisor for the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, approved a different version of what remains an environmentally damaging logging proposal, threatening 400-acres of wilderness quality forest.

In response, Environment Oregon Preservation Advocate Rikki Seguin released the following statement:

“Crater Lake and the surrounding wilderness is one of the most remarkable places in Oregon. Our public lands should be protected for future generations. Logging just outside the border of Crater Lake National Park flies in the face of our values and endangers the ecosystems and the wildlife within the park.

A better path for this special area would be permanent protection. The Crater Lake Wilderness proposal to protect a wildlife corridor encompassing the national park would ensure critical protections for this area and the wildlife that rely on it. Environment Oregon is joined in support of this proposal by Oregon Wild, the National Parks Conservation Association, the Crater Lake Institute, Cascadia WIldlands, Umpqua Watersheds, and the Soda Mountain Wilderness Council.

By approving the Bybee Timber Sale, the US Forest Service is effectively turning its back on the 11,000 Oregonians who spoke up for protections for this area, and is one step closer to sealing a destructive fate for the future of Oregon’s only national park.”