Harris Hall symposium to discuss Biscuit Fire
Cascadia Wildlands Project will co-sponsor a symposium tonight discussing the Biscuit Fire and the forest service’s actions in the fire’s aftermath.
Robert Beschta and John Sessions, both forestry experts at Oregon State University, will discuss the effects of the fire and logging operations they feel should take place in its aftermath. The symposium will take place at 7 p.m. in Harris Hall in the Lane County Public Service Building, located at 125 E. 8th Ave..
“It should be a great event for people to learn about the Biscuit Fire itself and the post-fire logging project that’s being planned,” Cascadia Wildlands Project campaign coordinator Josh Laughlin said.
Laughlin said the forest service is developing the largest timber sale in the history of the country that could result in the cutting of 516 million board feet of lumber, which is more than 200,000 log-truck loads.
Sessions’ and Beschta’s opinions have “shaped the Forest Service’s proposed alternatives,” he added.
The deadline for public comment on the proposals is Jan. 20, Laughlin said.
Cascadia Wildlands Project is co-sponsoring the event with the Oregon Natural Resources Council and the Lane County Audubon Society.
“It’s a landscape that sees fire all of the time,” Laughlin said. “A big massive salvage logging operation can really cause more damage.”
For more information, visit http://www.cascwild.org.

— Jared Paben