Summary: Timber groups requested the bill, which is designed to prevent deadly mudslides on clear-cut slopes above homes or roads

Gov. John Kitzhaber signed legislation Friday that prohibits logging on landslide-prone areas above homes or roads.

The bill is unusual because the restrictions to the forest industry came at the request of logging organizations. Timber industry representatives sought the restrictions after some logging companies said they would refuse to honor a voluntary moratorium on clear-cutting high-risk areas.

"We feel good about this bill," said Ward Armstrong, president of the Oregon Forest Industries Council. "We believe the state forester should be able to restrict activities where public safety truly is at risk."

After forest landslides and falling debris killed five people in Oregon during torrential rainstorms in November 1996, the state Board of Forestry asked timberland owners to voluntarily stop logging steep slopes above homes and highways while officials develop new rules.

But some landowners, led by West Coast Land and Timber Co. of Coos Bay, resisted the request.

"Caution . . . government has proposed new laws that could infringe on your rights," the company wrote in one notice sent to landowners. "If you presently have merchantable timber on your private lands, you might consider thinning or clear-cutting."

Senate Bill 1211 gives the Oregon Department of Forestry authority to ban logging on high-risk sites until Jan. 1, 2000. The bill also:

* Establishes a task force to develop solutions to the risks landslides pose to public safety. Recommendations will be used to develop long-term solutions that will be presented to the 1999 Legislative session.

* Encourages the Oregon Department of Transportation to close public roads in landslide-prone areas during intense storms.

* Provides a process to inform people planning to build homes in risky areas about landslide hazards.

"This legislation is an important first step to finding a comprehensive solution to a serious, life-threatening situation," State Forester Jim Brown said.

The Department of Forestry is conducting a study to determine the effects of logging on landslide intensity and occurrence. A final report is scheduled for release in late 1998.

Chris Dearth, Kitzhaber's legislative director, said the bill had wide supported and was easy for the governor to sign. The House initially rejected the bill, which then was modified.

"It's clearly in the interest of Oregonians to protect people from the dangers of landslides," Dearth said.