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where we are leaders in combining good forestry, good science and a strong social and 

 ecoDODiic system. 



I am a Democrat and an environmentalist and I want whatever plan we use, to achieve 

 management of our forests so our children and grandchildren ^ill inherit vigorous, 

 healthy forests that support their generations. 



The assumptions in The Forest Plan and the ROD include some that require creating a 

 condition that has never historically existed on the forest. (The "Disneyland" ecosystem 

 syndrome). Specifically, under the Standards and Guidelines for the plan there is a 

 requirement for coarse woody debris of 120 linear feet, 16 inches in diameter that has to 

 exist on everv' single acre. This is for the matrix lands. 



Lets look at one sale observed by the Implementation Monitoring Team in the Botte Falls 

 District, which was marked and sold, but not logged. The natural condition was that the 

 stand bad never been entered and was the 90 year old product of a stand replacement fire. 

 The ground was somewhat clean and did not meet the requirement for coarse woody 

 debris required by the ROD. Remember the stand was in a natural condition. Looking at 

 the intent of the ROD, in a young stand such as this one, did the land managers fail to meet 

 the ROD requirements if the coarse woody requirement was only achieved the day after 

 logging was complete. Should the stage of the stand's development be taken into 

 consideration? I think so. Should the coarse woody debris requirement be artificially met 

 by cutting trees and leaving them to meet this artificial standard, or should the stand be 

 managed, (in this case thinned) to release the stand and promote late successional 

 characteristics which would in time, provide for coarse woody dcbrij on its own, if there 

 wasn't another stand replacement fire? This is but one case where the ROD assumes a 

 condition that docs not historically exist, and requires the managers to create an unnatural 

 condition to meet a standard presumed to be natural. The reality is that the conditions in 

 the forest are not uniformity' the same, thus defy this prescriptive regulatory approach 

 based on erroneous assumptions. ( The "Disneyland'* ecosystem syndrome.) We cannot 



