Survey and Manage Funeral

On Monday morning, February 23, over forty concerned residents of the Rogue Valley gathered in front of the National Forest Service's regional office in Medford to mourn the loss of the survey and manage provisionsof the Northwest Forest Plan. The gathering formed part of a nine-city Northwest day of action.

"We're here to mourn the loss of biodiversity and species in our forests," said Stuart O'Neill. "I am really sad that the federal government is deciding to blindfold and handcuff scientists and ecologists who are working really hard to protect biodiversity and species habitat."

Dressed in black, the group followed in a funeral procession behind two veiled women carrying a coffin, which represented more than 300 species of rare wildlife that the federal agencies will no longer need to include in timber sale analysis. Outside the building, the group erected tombstones each bearing a name and photograph of some of the plants, animals, and fungi to be effected by the change. The mourners were accompanied by a gamelan ensemble, playing gong and chime music. After the procession, the group engaged Forest Supervisor Scott Conroy in dialogue.

While the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service never really followed survey and manage more than to a minimal level, the provisions offered the public a significant tool for protecting forests. Citizen surveyors throughout the Northwest have used survey and manage to hold federal land managers accountable to their own laws. On dozens of occasions, courts have found federal agencies negligent when citizens located species the agencies were supposed to protect. In response, the White House directed the agencies to eliminate the survey and manage provisions altogether, rather than comply with guidelines and court rulings.

"The elimination of Survey and Manage guidelines is a perfect example of what prominent scientists are telling us: the Bush administration is ignoring science to further their own agenda," said Lesley Adams of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center. "This administration wants to avoid data on sensitive species to make it easier to implement timber sales." In response to the group's concerns, Conroy agreed that timber volume formed the basis for the agencies' decision to dismantle survey and manage. "The Northwest Forest Plan had multiple objectives," he said, "and one is the appropriate protection of species, another one is a certain amount of harvest. And we have not been able to meet the obligations of harvest under the Northwest Forest Plan."

Upon exiting the building, one mourner had a parting comment for the Forest Service staff. "We'll be back to talk about Biscuit," he said. "We have issues."

Article by Joe Flaherty (from Rogue Valley IMC)