‘Roadless Area’ Timber Is Up for Sale

The first timber likely to be harvested in a “roadless area” of a national forest since the Bush administration eased logging restrictions goes on the auction block Friday.

The U.S. Forest Service and the timber industry downplayed the significance of the sale of standing dead timber burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, but environmentalists denounced it as a precedent opening the door to logging on nearly 60 million acres of national forests they had previously considered protected from logging.

Bids are expected to be influenced by high fuel prices, low log prices and the expense of removing the timber with helicopters.

Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, a Democrat, has asked the Forest Service to delay timber sales in roadless areas until after it works through a petition process created under the new roadless rule.