BOOM, BUST & THE BLM!

With most of its ire focused on the U.S. Forest Service, the environmental movement has let the Bureau of Land Management, or B.L.M., fly under its radar for too long. The truth is the BLM is responsible for some of the most atrocious native forest clearcutting in the continental U.S., the bulk of which is happening in the unique and fragile forests of southern Oregon. There are currently 24,000 acres (nearly 39 square miles!) of forests on the chopping block, to be given away to the timber industry under the toothless Northwest Forest Plan.

As if that weren't bad enough, the BLM has proposed its now-infamous Western Oregon Plan Revision, also known as the "Whopper," which would return us to the "good ol' days" of logging without laws on 2.6 million acres of public land in western Oregon. Eco Advocates NW was among the first organizations to sound the alarm on the BLM's WOPR, which would increase old-growth clearcutting by a staggering 700%!

~Since early 2007, Eco Advocates NW has played a leading role in educating the public on the WOPR, airing radio spots urging Senator Wyden and Representative DeFazio to oppose the WOPR, encouraging and facilitating citizen comment-writing in opposition to the B.L.M., collecting signatures to pressure elected officials (particularly Sen. Wyden and Rep. DeFazio) to oppose the plan, creating lobbying coalitions, co-organizing rallies, and leading hikes to forests that are threatened by the W.O.P.R.

~In 2007, with filmmakers Tim Lewis ("Pickaxe") and Trip Jennings ("Fire Scars"), Eco Advocates NW co-produced "Boom, Bust & the B.L.M.!," a DVD project designed to defeat the W.O.P.R. "Boom, Bust & the B.L.M.!" exposes the B.L.M.'s backroom sweetheart settlement with the timber industry to log some of the nation's last 5% native forests, highlights the voices of ornery rural Oregonians who want to see their forests alive and standing for future generations, and contains a unique Citizen's Action Toolkit to help concerned citizens organize in opposition to the B.L.M.'s plans.