45 million board feet of timber could be harvested if a proposed alternative is selected for logging in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest between Prospect and Crater Lake Park.

The project is designed to improve forest health, provide a sustainable supply of timber and reduce the risk to forest resources from wildfire.

The harvest, slated for the Bybee acreage, is scattered throughout a block shaped like the state of Oregon with the southern tip about 15 miles north of Prospect. Most of the acreage would be logged with ground based systems, then a combination of both tractor and cable systems on 410 acres and 34 acres would be logged by helicopter.

Dave Schott, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association said he was impressed after a cursory look at the proposal.

George Sexton, conservation director for the Ashland based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center was initially disappointed in the proposed alternative.

Neither man has had the opportunity to thoroughly assess the 290-page document.