The Forest Service announced it is auctioning off a logging sale in the Beaver Creek watershed on July 11, taking bids on some of the last ancient trees remaining in this upper Klamath River tributary. EPIC and others filed a federal lawsuit to challenge this sale on June 24, vowing that this forest must remain as a seed for recovery in this degraded watershed.

The "Beaver Creek" Timber Sale (TS) includes almost 1,000 acres and would remove 5.9 million board feet of trees, or more than 1,100 logging truckloads. The logging sale includes more than 500 acres of northern spotted owl critical habitat and would use strychnine poisoning to kill gophers, although it would undoubtedly kill much more.

A rare Pacific fisher, one of the many species that would be affected by the Knob and Beaver Timber Sales Photo: EPIC Archives

The area surrounding the Beaver Creek TS is a mixed "checkerboard" of private industrial forestland, all of which has been heavily impacted by logging. The forests in the logging sale are some of the last where ancient trees can be found, and another logging sale in the works--the "Uptown TS"--is targeting much of the rest.

Together, the Beaver TS and Uptown TS would contribute to serious problems, with coho and chinook salmon and steelhead all struggling to survive in the streams flowing through the area and the Klamath River itself. These waters are already choked with sediment and well over threshold levels of concern.

The Forest Service did not analyze the combined impacts of these two logging plans on fish or wildlife, committing this and numerous other violations in approving the Beaver TS. EPIC is challenging this timber sale, working with the same team of activists and attorneys as the Knob TS. Many of the same violations are occurring in both sales.

Every ancient tree standing in this area is precious and is invaluable to the plants and animals that rely on clean water and healthy forests. EPIC is determined to ensure that these trees do not fall before their time, but instead survive to help bring vanishing species back from the brink of extinction.