MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's appearance at a town hall meeting in Medford, Ore., drew about a dozen protesters who oppose any plan to remove Klamath River dams.

KDRV reports (http://is.gd/yG7QaT ) that the dams were brought up several times during Tuesday's town hall but Salazar kept the topic on forest plans.

A draft report released last month by the Interior Department says removing four hydroelectric dams in the Klamath Basin would help restore salmon and sustain irrigation for farmers in southern Oregon and northern California.

Salazar's visit to southern Oregon also included a tour of a pilot forestry project in the Applegate Valley, where the federal Bureau of Land Management is trying another approach to break what can be courtroom gridlock on timber sales.

Salazar toured the middle Applegate Pilot Project near Ruch. KDRV says the idea is to provide saw logs, thin overgrown forests, reduce fuels and preserve plant and animal habitat.

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Information from: KDRV-TV, http://www.kdrv.com/

Copyright 2012 The AP.