Do Oregon's Clear-Cut And Pesticide Buffers Protect Drinking Water?

"ROCKAWAY BEACH, Ore. -- From her front porch, Nancy Webster has a clear view of the hills just east of the coast highway, a western hemlock forest that's home to Rockaway Beach's water supply."



"The retired social worker, who grew up in a Northwest logging family, worried when she saw patchwork clear-cuts expanding in 2011.

Last summer, she and a friend hiked into the watershed during a storm and saw the creek that feeds Rockaway Beach's water treatment plant "running chocolate brown." In September, she spotted helicopters spraying herbicides, catching distinct whiffs at her house a half-mile away.

Just like that, the latest highly motivated critic of Oregon's Forest Practices Act, which governs private timberlands, was born."

Scott Learn reports for the Portland Oregonian August 20, 2013.

Source: Portland Oregonian, 08/21/2013