THORN Budget ax falls early The timber safety net keeps ripping. It’s shrinking and may be gone soon. In the meantime, Douglas County isn’t even getting all the money appropriated by Congress. The Bureau of Land Management, bracing for March 1 and mandatory across-the-board cuts, withheld 10 percent of the money due Douglas County. Instead of about $12 million, the county received $10.9 million recently. U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Springfield, put the cut in perspective in a speech on the House floor this week. With steam practically rising from his collar, he told his colleagues that the reduction was large …