Treat the Forests---Save our Communities

Treat the Forests---Save our Communities by Tom Partin, American Forest Resource Council

There is a new momentum building across the West that is taking many forms, but has a common theme: ---“Treat the Forests and Save our Communities.”  The impetus is coming from rural Americans who have been played like pawns in a chess game over how the federal forests surrounding their communities are being managed.  The uprising gets stronger with every acre of federal forest that goes up in flames destroying homes and watersheds, or is killed by insects and disease. It is also strengthened by the closure of each sawmill, by every rural community that faces 20 percent unemployment, and by every local government unable to meet the needs of its citizenry.  The beat is signaling that the West has had enough of watching both our forests and rural communities die a slow and unnecessary death.  It is also an indication that rural America has had enough of special interest groups that use the court system and taxpayer dollars gleaned through the Equal Access to Justice Provision to stifle needed projects while forests and communities suffer!  

A new social license is rapidly evolving as the need to reestablish management and create jobs in our federal forests is becoming clear.  In Oregon we have seen this demand for change being carried by Senator Ron Wyden’s efforts to increase forest management east of the Cascades, by Peter DeFazio who brought Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to Oregon to seek a solution for the BLM lands in southwest Oregon, and by Congressman Greg Walden who has introduced legislation to expand the authorities of the Healthy Forest Restoration Act to treat more forested acres.

In Montana Senator Jon Tester introduced the Montana Forest Jobs and Restoration Initiative; Senators Risch of Idaho and Udall of Colorado introduced the National Forest Insect and Disease Emergency Act for use in any area where insect epidemics pose a threat to forest health and human safety. Other national forests such as the Colville in Washington and the Nez Perce in Idaho sent delegations back to Washington DC asking for expanded authorization to get more acres of forest health treatments on the landscape. In California the collaborative Quincy Library Group has worked to restore management of some forests in the Sierra Nevada.  The voices are many and strong.  At a recent meeting with Interior Secretary Salazar in Washington, DC, we heard Oregon’s Congressional delegation declare that if an administrative solution to the federal management gridlock is not found, a legislative solution will be forthcoming. 

Each of these efforts, while specific to individual regions or forests have surfaced out of desperation of the people who live in rural America and want to forge new workable solutions for our federal forests.  While each bill or request may vary, they have the same theme: ---“Treat the Forests and Save our Communities.”

Congress must now listen to the drumbeat from rural America and take action to get needed forest heath treatments implemented; put our residents in rural America back to work; and reject the actions of those who hold jobs and communities hostage by using lawsuits to stop sound forest management projects.   

The rural West has experienced 20 years of ineffectual federal forest management and has paid the price by living in increasing poverty and watching their forests decline and die.  The tide has turned and a new momentum has developed for action.  It’s about time! 

On forest issues, Oregon must break free

 By The Oregonian Editorial Board 


To get their economy flowing again, Oregonians must carve a fresh path around the barriers that have blocked productive management of public lands 

One sunny day last August, the Rogue River lost patience with the pace of progress in removing Gold Ray Dam. The river suddenly surged through a sand bar, stranded frightened workers atop the remnants of the old dam and blasted a new channel, opening 157 miles of river for migrating fish. 

That marked one of the great moments in the Oregon outdoors last year. An antiquated barrier collapsed, a bitter, decades-long debate ended and, the Rogue, one of the state's great natural resources, ran wild all the way to the sea. 

Gold Ray's removal was a significant event not only because a dam fell, but because it showed that Oregonians can come together and break through difficult, contentious debates over natural resources. 

It's that spirit, that collaboration, that Oregonians must summon this year to finally push through the barriers that have blocked progress on the management of public forests and rivers. 

Like the Rogue, Oregonians should follow promising paths wherever they lead. Here's one: Conservationists and timber industry executives have signed on to an eastside forest compromise brokered by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden. The deal protects old-growth trees while freeing up tens of thousands of acres of sick, overstocked, fire-prone forests for logging. The plan would save forests, jobs and the last few mills east of the Cascades in Oregon. By year's end, it ought to be law. 

Here's another path: Rep. Peter DeFazio recently met with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to urge a plan from widely respected foresters Jerry Franklin and Norm Johnson to increase logging and improve forest health on Bureau of Land Management forests in southwestern Oregon. By year's end, these large test projects ought to be under way, too. 

There's more common ground out there, if Oregonians, elected officials and interest groups are willing to stray from their hard lines. For instance, conservation groups seek to expand the protected wilderness around the Rogue River. The timber industry doesn't object. 

Clearly, these areas will never be logged. Again, let's get it done. By year's end, Congress should approve the new Rogue wilderness. 

There's broad agreement, too, in the Klamath Basin, where Oregonians have fought for decades over water. The Klamath Basin Resource Agreement worked out last year would sweep most of these differences away, guaranteeing reliable irrigation water and removing four fish-killing dams. It's a bold new path to more predictable conditions for more Klamath farmers, healthier fish runs and more stable fishing seasons for coastal fishermen. By year's end, this vital compromise must still be on track. 

Wherever you live, you need to care about how and when these issues on Oregon's vast public forest and rivers are resolved. Every one affects the delicate balance between economy and environment. Every one affects the future of the state. 

Oregon is not going to flourish with rural unemployment pushing 20 percent and counties struggling to maintain the most basic services, including public safety. It can't get stronger with families moving away from rural communities and their schools. 

It can't build a strong economy or a healthy environment around public forests that get ever more crowded and vulnerable to disease and wildfire. It can't strengthen its coastal economy if commercial salmon fishing is shut down every other year. 

These issues are barriers standing between Oregon and better days. They're blocking our progress. It's time to take those new paths, and break free. 

Roseburg News-Review Salazar Editorial

Roseburg News-Review-Salazar-Editorial