Still At Loggerheads

The meeting in Salem, Ore., was dubbed "the Spotted Owl Summit." The title referred to the threatened bird that federal courts recently protected when they prohibited logging in parts of the Northwest and also to the fact that most of the big guns of Oregon politics were taking part. Attending the summit were Governor Neil Goldschmidt and all seven members of the state's congressional delegation.

Senator Mark Hatfield arranged the Salem session to work out a compromise between two bitter enemies -- Oregon's powerful timber industry and militant conservationists. The industry needs to harvest trees to preserve some 68,000 jobs, while the environmentalists are fighting to protect ancient forests and creatures for which the old growth is an indispensable habitat. The meeting at times seemed overwhelmed by the whoop-de-do of 3,000 loggers sporting baseball caps with yellow ribbons and T shirts with provocative slogans (SAVE A LOGGER -- EAT AN OWL). But when it was over, the two sides appeared ready to attempt a two-year compromise that would both preserve the spotted owl's home and permit continued logging in reduced but still vast areas of federal lands.

The deal, though, never quite materialized. While the timber industry announced its "reluctant acceptance" of the compromise, Andy Kerr, conservation director for the Oregon Natural Resources Council, complained that environmentalists did not have enough time to analyze the plan. Moreover, the group, which has been able to halt logging by obtaining court injunctions, was unwilling to drop all litigation for two years, as stipulated. In addition, the conservationists contended that the proposal, which allows loggers to harvest 8 billion board feet in the disputed lands through 1990, some 2 billion less than under normal conditions, surrendered too much.

The environmentalists' stand could push the timber industry back into its hard-line position. Before the compromise was conceived, the lumbermen had made it plain that they would reject any reduction in permissible logging. In Washington, Oregon's congressional delegation was angered and disappointed. Lamented Hatfield: "I wonder if those who saw fit to torpedo a fair, short- term solution have anything to offer."