Coquille Tribe: BLM forest management plan a 'lose-lose for everyone'

The Coquille Tribe continues to fight a proposal from the Bureau of Land Management. As of last Friday, the BLM finalized its Forest Management Plan, one they've been working on over the past four years. The plan includes management objectives that hinder logging in older forests. BLM says the restriction will protect habitat for the spotted owl. Under Title V, the Coquille Tribe is required to manage its land based on restrictions put on adjacent federal land. "We have an 80-year rotation, so we grow big timber, we harvest big timber, and by them defining old growth in a certain way makes it to where that's not how we manage our lands,” Coquille Indian Tribe chairwoman Brenda Meade said. “We want mature timber; we want to make sure that we manage for all things and this plan doesn't do it. We rely on the revenue; we rely on the jobs in this community and this plan is a lose-lose for everyone." The Coquille Tribe says with the management plan in place, a majority of their forest land can no longer be harvested. They say they're concerned for the health of the forests in Oregon, and putting more money into fighting fires...more