FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                     	                ENR
FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 1996                                     (202) 616-2771
							TDD (202) 514-1888

UNITED STATES MOVES TO RESOLVE OREGON TIMBER DISPUTE

Enters Agreement To End Controversial Warner Creek Timber Sale

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In an effort to resolve contentious timber sales in the Pacific Northwest, the United States today agreed with Thomas Creek Lumber & Log Company to settle pending litigation and contract claims arising from the sale of timber in the Willamette National Forest in Oregon. In addition, the agreement provides for mutual cancellation of the Warner Creek Salvage timber sale.

The Warner Creek Salvage sale was part of the federal government's 1993 Warner Fire Recovery Project, which was designed to restore spotted owl habitat and reduce fire threats resulting from a 1991 fire in the forest. The Warner Creek sale would have allowed the cutting of 520,000 board feet of timber.

A case brought by the Sierra Club and the Oregon Natural Resources Council challenging the Warner Creek sale was decided by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on August 20, 1996. The court held that under the timber provisions of the 1995 Rescissions Act, the sale was insulated from challenge under otherwise applicable environmental laws.

"We are pleased to have reached a global settlement of the disputes between the Forest Service and Thomas Creek, and that the agreement includes cancellation of the Warner Creek Salvage sale," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. "We think this is a creative solution that will contribute to solving a contentious situation."

"We look forward to the expiration of the timber provisions in the Rescissions Act so that timber sales will again be subject to all environmental laws, and citizens will have their full rights," said Peter D. Coppelman, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

Under the terms of settlement, the United States agreed to pay $475,000 to Thomas Creek. The company has also agreed to release the United States from liability in connection with a suspension or delay of the Anchovy timber sale. Thomas Creek had claimed approximately $750,000 in damages for Government delay, or suspension, of that sale. In addition, Thomas Creek has agreed that the United States will retain certain deposits paid on a related timber contract, known as Beardown, including a down payment of $79,000.

The names of the other timber sale contracts included in today's agreement are Parkette 90, Flintlock, Westrun, Butte West, and Low Blow.

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