By Carl Mickelson,
Staff Writer
The allies
of several thousand endangered seabirds and shorebirds that died after an oil
spill in 1999 didn't make a peep Wednesday night during a public comment
session on a restoration plan that seeks to bolster the bird populations.
Instead, several employees of the Bureau of Land Management, on hand at
the North Bend Public Library to listen to feedback on the plan, heard from
numerous outspoken foes of the plan.
Some threatened lawsuits if the
draft plan wasn't changed, while others voiced serious reservations over the
great expense specified to compensate for the birds' deaths.
The M/V
New Carissa ran aground off the North Spit, and later Waldport, in 1999,
spilling tens of thousands of gallons of oil that killed nearly 2,500 birds,
including 262 marbled murrelets and an estimated four to eight Western snowy
plover - both endangered species.
Wednesday's public comment session
followed on the heels of the release of a report late last month. The draft
plan, prepared by the New Carissa Natural Resource Trustees - a conglomeration
of federal and state agencies and confederated Indian tribes - calls for the
purchase of almost 1,500 acres of critical habitat for the birds from willing
sellers who own private coastal land from Astoria to Brookings.
The
draft plan earmarks about $400,000 for various projects on the North Spit
including signs, informational kiosks and trail rehabilitation. About $4
million already is allocated toward the purchase of the properties, money from
a $25 million lawsuit settlement with the shipping company that owns the New
Carissa. In addition, a yet-to-be acquired sum generated by an oil tax created
under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 after a massive oil spill in Valdez,
Alaska, also would be used for the restoration plan.
The most often
repeated remarks from those in attendance at Wednesday's meeting focused on
public agencies taking private lands off the tax rolls, worries over accessing
the property if acquired, and what those in opposition to the plan called
governmental agencies' inability to effectively manage the acreage they
currently maintain.
"We already have millions of acres locked up - that
can't be touched by man," said Jim Bice, a staunch opponent to the plan. "We
have timber lying around rotting. That land hasn't been managed, and now you
want to take even more land, so it won't be properly managed and not generate
revenue for people. Does this make sense?"
Larry Mangan, a BLM wildlife
biologist, tried to curb fears over accessing the property, stating that 90 to
95 percent of federal forest lands already are accessible by the public. "By
and large, the majority of the forest lands would be open to the public,"
Mangan said. Coos County Board Chairman John Griffith also spoke in opposition
to the plan. He said BLM already lacks funding, and has approached the county
board in the past for funding to carry out its duties.
"Why take more
money for kiosks in light of your current fiscal situation," Griffith said,
referring to plans to establish educational signs around the North Spit. He
also was frustrated that the trustees did not seek out input from local
stakeholders for the development of the draft, noting that the county board
passed a resolution in March opposing further governmental acquisition of
private land.
Helen Franklin, a resident of North Bend, said the
environmental assessment developed by the trustees was the wrong tool used.
Instead, she said, for a "major federal action" such as was being considered, a
more wide-ranging mechanism - an environmental impact statement which includes
an economic impact report if the plan were carried out, should have been
conducted.
"For this much money, you need to be writing an EIS," Franklin
said, threatening adjudication if that was not completed.
She, too, was
adamantly opposed to the projects proposed for the North Spit, fearing, she
said, more limitation for all-terrain vehicle, hiking and horsebackriding
access. "You want to put up a bunch of stupid kiosks and interpretive centers?
This area doesn't need to be interpreted," she said. "No more signs and no
kiosks."
Mike Smith, an avid ATV-rider, suggested the money be used for
"recreation management," for those who use the North Spit. There was an
opportunity for the agencies to use the funds to benefit ATVers by increasing
access to the area, he said. "The ATV species was affected, too," he said. He
also suggested the money be saved for potential oil spills in the future.
"Leave it in the fund until we have a real oil spill - and need real
rehabilitation," Smith said. On Thursday, Megan Slothower, who moderated
Wednesday's meeting said BLM had received several written comments in favor of
the plan.
BLM was not on hand to debate with those opposed to the plan,
but simply to listen and record their comments for inclusion into another draft
of the plan. The public comment period ends at the close of business on Friday,
June 24. Those interested in providing feedback can contact Mangan at 751-4231
or by e-mail at at coos_bay@blm.gov. A summary of the comments made Wednesday
also is being published on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Web site -
http://OregonFWO.fws.gov - next week.
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