Forest Management Policy Wildfires Controversial Issues

Kitzhaber's biomass fable

Governor’s Biomass Fable: Oregon Governor Kitzhaber told reporters that wood pellets were a solution to reviving Oregon’s moribund rural economy. He talked about his vision of forest communities replacing their dwindling wood product-based (sawlog) industry with an industry making wood pellets and gathering biomass to make electricity. The Governor says wood pellets cost “about the same” as natural gas. Industry is trying to convince the Governor that his naïve vision of expanded biomass power opportunities could only occur under increased public sawlog harvest that produced surplus mill residuals… a reality the Governor has failed to embrace.

Road Runoff Lawsuit Takes Bad Turn: In May, the US Ninth Circuit Court rejected two legal efforts by Oregon forest sector defendants to reconsider an adverse decision by a 3-judge Ninth Circuit panel in the Clean Water Act lawsuit, NEDC vs. Brown. In a May 23rd letter to the EPA, 44 Congressmen asked the agency to reaffirm the 35-year silviculture & logging exemption from point-source federal Clean Water Act permitting. The letter sets the stage for a legislative remedy that would amend the federal Clean Water Act and its regulations. Stay tuned for more legal action necessary to derail potential federal government impacts on state & private forest road policies.

Judge Rejects Green Lawsuit about Forest Research: An environmental lawsuit that attempted to stop forestry research in the Deschutes National Forest’s 2,554-acre Pringle Falls Experimental Forest was denied by a federal judge. In May, the judge refused to stop a US Forest Service timber sale that would harvest 70% of trees larger than six inches in diameter in an experimental unit. The Forest Service is simply trying to demonstrate different thinning methods necessary to promote forest health and prevent damage from unwanted wildfire and insects in pine forests.

Rep. Walden Hosts Forest Roundtable: Eastern Oregon’s US Congressman Greg Walden (R) convened a forestry roundtable discussion June 10 in John Day. The purpose was to introduce new US Forest Service NW Regional Forester Kent Connaughton to issues affecting rural timber & ranching economies in Eastern Oregon, where the landscape is dominated by federal lands. Walden modeled this roundtable from a previous roundtable, held in Union County several years ago to introduce then new Regional Forester, Mary Wagner. A panel of local business folks spoke about broken federal policies to Connaughton, Rep. Walden, and three Blue Mountain forest supervisors.

Growing wildfire threat leads to more trust in government « Summit ...

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Property owners living near fire-prone forests overwhelmingly support thinning and other mechanical treatments to reduce the risk of damaging blazes, and they also trust resource managers to do the right thing — in part because of the looming threat.

The degree of trust expressed in a series of surveys in seven states surprised the researchers who conducted the surveys. The findings have been published in the International Journal of Wildland Fire.

“Declining forest health and wildfire are such serious and increasing threats that we are beginning to see partnerships forming among mill owners, logging contractors, residents and environmental groups,” said Bruce Shindler, an Oregon State University professor in the department of forest ecosystems and society. “The stakes are just too high for everyone.”

More than 80 percent of people surveyed — and up to 90 percent at some sites — showed support for mechanical thinning or mowing to reduce fire risks. Only such approaches as use of herbicides found lower degrees of support.

The studies found that local, personal relationships were what mattered most in coming to agreement on natural resource plans and policies. Such topics that have often been contentious among various interest groups in the West.  Positive interactions between homeowner associations, local leaders and individual land managers make the difference, scientists say.

Teachers and retirees, for example, are now organizing programs to create defensible space in their neighborhoods and learning steps that can be taken to protect their homes .

“People may still not trust big business or big government, but they trust Joe, the local Forest Service district ranger,” Shindler said. “In forest communities there’s a growing understanding that threats from wildfire are everyone’s concern.  It helps get these groups past that us-versus-them mentality. And this rings true in diverse places we surveyed in Utah, Colorado, Oregon, and Arizona.”

Surveys were done in 2002 and 2008 – with the same individuals over time — analyzing the status and changes in people’s attitudes towards fire and land management policies. The greatest progress was made where local residents had become involved, Shindler said, and worked closely with government and community groups to develop enlightened management approaches that help protect property and improve forest health.

FAO meeting on public policies affecting forest fires, Rome, 28-30 October 1998 : proceedings

Congressional Record, V. 149, Pt. 9, May 14, 2003 to May 21, 2003

Forest fires, a reference handbook

Field & Stream

Issues and controversies on file