The U.S. Forest Service on Friday proposed a salvage timber sale in a roadless area hit by the 2002 Biscuit fire.

Much timber was damaged in the fire, the nation's largest wildfire of the year, and is considered to be deteriorating. Timber industry executives have said 2006 probably is the last year any of it could be harvested profitably.

The forest service has considered salvage logging in two areas protected by roadless designations -- Mike's Gulch and Blackberry. Blackberry, the second area, could be offered in the summer.

Because the properties are in a roadless area, the logs would have to be hoisted by helicopters, a costlier option than ground transportation.

The cost and the condition of the timber cast doubt on whether any companies will submit bids for the Mike's Gulch sale by the deadline next Friday, an industry representative said.

"Unfortunately, the helicopter sale costs three or four times as much," said David Schott, executive vice president of the Southern Oregon Timber Industries Association. "It could well be a no-bid situation."

Environmentalists have challenged the sale and said they hoped the Forest Service would await an appellate court decision on their request for an injunction. They say logging shouldn't proceed in a roadless area and that the work would damage the natural revegetation of the burn area.

"Unfortunately, I think we might get some bids," said Rolf Skar of the Siskiyou Project, a regional environmental group.

Enough large, old-growth Douglas firs remain to make the sale of 9.3 million board feet attractive, he said.

The group said its study of seedlings in areas that burned at high intensity in 2002 show they appear to be recovering thickly and rapidly. This, they say, makes it obvious that salvage logging isn't necessary to restore the forest.

"If I could bring America there, this sale would not happen," said Chip Dannerlein, director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project.

Paul Galloway, a Forest Service spokesman, said logging companies must submit sealed bids by next Friday, and then they will have a chance to make further bids in an auction.