The recent government shutdown does not apply to timber sales or oil and gas drilling on public land, but it does apply to fuels reduction and community protection projects. This is the Trump administration take on what is the “essential” government function.. Left in the wake of the shutdown are public servants, often working class families that are being denied their jobs and paychecks at public land and wildlife agencies.

Which public lands services are "essential" to you? Do you care most about fuels reduction and community protection? Recreation and scenery? Healthy rivers and clean drinking water? Well all those values are being treated as expendable during the government shut down while timber sales on public lands are rushing along.

While restoration work, fuels reduction have ground to a halt and Crater Lake Park is closed, Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service timber sales continue without a care in the world. During the government shut down the Klamath National Forest is allowing old-growth forests on the Siskiyou Crest to be clearcut without supervision as part of the Seiad-Horse timber sale. They are even allowing wet-weather clearcutting operations. 

If you try to buy a map or get a firewood permit at local BLM offices you will find the doors to these public buildings locked. Yet the Medford BLM offered four new stream side timber sales for sale over the holidays during the government shut down. 

This isn't a real shut down, its a "shut out" and you and your values are "shut out." These are public lands - these are also ancestral territory of tribes. They are habitat for wildlife, sources of clean water, and they are essential.

Here's the good news: We are fighting back. KS Wild won't be quiet when the BLM and Forest Service target your public lands for old-growth clearcutting or streamside logging. Throughout the shut down we are pushing back against illegal logging proposals and going to court if necessary.