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| THE CONSERVATION COLUMN by Pepper Trail, February 2010 A New Sun Rises in the East? In December, Senator Ron Wyden introduced major new environmental legislation covering the national forests of eastern Oregon. Despite what may be the most ungainly acronym ever, the Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection, and Jobs Act (OEFROGPJA) has tremendous potential to protect old growth forests and refocus federal management of the dry pine-dominated forests of eastern Oregon on science-based restoration. Under the bill, future logging would remove primarily smaller diameter trees and serve landscape-wide forest and watershed restoration goals. The legislation follows months of negotiations between conservationists, timber industry leaders, and Senator Wyden’s staff. In his press release, Senator Wyden declared: “Oregonians rightly wondered if this day would ever come, but thanks to the good faith and extraordinary perseverance of these fine men and women, timber and environmental interests are today standing side by side to move beyond decades of confrontation and improve forests and create jobs.” |
| Something to ponder: "The last word of ignorance is the man who says of an animal or plant: 'What good is it?' If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like, but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering." Aldo Leopold, The Sand County Almanac |
| Rogue Valley Audubon Society PO Box 8597 Medford, OR 97501 roguevalleyaudubon.org |
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President of the American Forest Resource Council and lead negotiator for the timber
pursue increased federal forest management funding and provide needed oversight to
ensure on-the-ground mechanical treatments are accomplished in our federal forests
were important factors in our participation and are essential to the viability of the
legislation and rural communities east of the Cascades.”
“We have found common ground on old-growth protection and scientifically sound
restoration thinning projects, and now we look forward to working with Senator Wyden to
turn this agreement into law,” said Andy Kerr, a veteran forest campaigner and key player
in the negotiations. The proposed legislation applies to National Forest lands within
Oregon not covered by the Northwest Forest Plan. In all, the legislation will set new
management priorities on six National Forests covering nearly 10 million acres of
federal public land. The terms of the bill call for enhanced conservation of old-growth
forests, watershed protection, and a restoration focus for all future management activities.
Conservationists expect the new legislation to dramatically increase the pace of forest
and watershed restoration in eastern Oregon.
Specifically, the bill expands upon and makes permanent existing protections for trees
larger than 21 inches in diameter. In addition, the bill creates a science advisory panel
that will draw upon the best available science to develop restoration guidelines for the
Forest Service, and help ensure future management actions are consistent with
the bill’s restoration goals. The legislation also addresses the environmental harm
caused by the extensive system of largely unmaintained Forest Service logging roads,
barring the agency from building new roads.
The legislation’s centerpiece is a requirement that the Forest Service begin planning
landscape-level restoration projects that will improve forest and watershed health that
has been degraded by decades of misguided management. These plans, which could
encompass tens of thousands of acres, will seek to restore old-growth characteristics,
protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, restore natural fire regimes, and make
forests more resilient to climate change.
The plans are expected to result in science-based restoration thinning projects which will
increase the volume of small-diameter wood available timber mills in Eastern
Oregon, and to provide increased certainty of timber supply in both the short and long
terms. In addition to the forest and watershed health benefits this legislation this
should produce, the rural economies of eastern Oregon will also benefit. Increased
agreement on forest management on a large scale will ensure a secure supply of wood
products for loggers and mills.
The Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act differs
from other forest legislation proposals in a number of key ways. The legislation is
based on an historic agreement among conservation organizations and timber
companies, does not attempt to weaken environmental safeguards like the Endangered
Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act, and ensures Americans retain their
rights to challenge federal agencies in court if they believe the agencies are breaking the
law.
This legislation comes at a critical moment in the debate over eastern Oregon forests. A
century of misguided management is being compounded by global warming, increasing
the urgency to protect remaining old-growth and watersheds for the benefit of native fish,
wildlife, and people.
Although supported by a broad coalition of environmental groups, including Oregon
Wild, the National Center for Conservation and Policy, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands
Center, and the Nature Conservancy, the bill does reflect compromises, for example:
Administrative Appeals under OEFROGPJA: In a provision that has raised some concern
in the conservation community, the Act would provide that no administrative appeals
be allowed during an intial 3-year interim transition period. Nonetheless, access to
litigation in court would be unchanged. There would also be an automatic 35-day stay
of an approved project’s ground- or vegetation-disturbing activities to allow an aggrieved
party time to file a lawsuit. After the interim transition period, a new administrative
“objection” process would replace administrative appeals as the method of
administrative review for ecological restoration projects. The new objection process
would encourage opportunities to more aggressively and informally resolve concerns
about ecological restoration projects before an aggrieved party feels the need to go to
court.
Interim Timber Production Mandate: In a provision sought by the timber industry, the
legislation would mandate that the Forest Service produce treatment projects averaging
100,000 acres/year during the initial 3-year period that produce marketable timber as a
“byproduct.” Such projects would have to comply with other provisions of the new
Act, as well as existing law (including regulations). In addition, the projects cannot be in
Inventoried Roadless Areas and would be in areas where many conservationists and
scientists believe that such treatments are needed. An analysis of forest types indicates
that adequate amounts of lands in such need exist to meet this interim mandate. If the
three-year interim mandated target is attained, it would result in the estimated annual
treatment of just 1.1% of ponderosa pine-dominated forests outside of Wilderness and
Inventoried Roadless Areas.
In announcing the bill, Wyden, who chairs the Senate’s Subcommittee on Public Lands
and Forests also stressed the importance of increasing funding for the Forest Service’s
management activities and said he would use his subcommittee chairmanship to
conduct continuous oversight of the agency’s implementation of the legislation.
“There is no better way to restore our forests and jobs in some of the hardest-hit
counties in our state than to increase the Forest Service budget for forest restoration,”
added Wyden. “It will be a top priority for me, and a frequent topic in my subcommittee.”
At the present time, there is no companion legislation in the House.♦
(Home)
pursue increased federal forest management funding and provide needed oversight to
ensure on-the-ground mechanical treatments are accomplished in our federal forests
were important factors in our participation and are essential to the viability of the
legislation and rural communities east of the Cascades.”
“We have found common ground on old-growth protection and scientifically sound
restoration thinning projects, and now we look forward to working with Senator Wyden to
turn this agreement into law,” said Andy Kerr, a veteran forest campaigner and key player
in the negotiations. The proposed legislation applies to National Forest lands within
Oregon not covered by the Northwest Forest Plan. In all, the legislation will set new
management priorities on six National Forests covering nearly 10 million acres of
federal public land. The terms of the bill call for enhanced conservation of old-growth
forests, watershed protection, and a restoration focus for all future management activities.
Conservationists expect the new legislation to dramatically increase the pace of forest
and watershed restoration in eastern Oregon.
Specifically, the bill expands upon and makes permanent existing protections for trees
larger than 21 inches in diameter. In addition, the bill creates a science advisory panel
that will draw upon the best available science to develop restoration guidelines for the
Forest Service, and help ensure future management actions are consistent with
the bill’s restoration goals. The legislation also addresses the environmental harm
caused by the extensive system of largely unmaintained Forest Service logging roads,
barring the agency from building new roads.
The legislation’s centerpiece is a requirement that the Forest Service begin planning
landscape-level restoration projects that will improve forest and watershed health that
has been degraded by decades of misguided management. These plans, which could
encompass tens of thousands of acres, will seek to restore old-growth characteristics,
protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, restore natural fire regimes, and make
forests more resilient to climate change.
The plans are expected to result in science-based restoration thinning projects which will
increase the volume of small-diameter wood available timber mills in Eastern
Oregon, and to provide increased certainty of timber supply in both the short and long
terms. In addition to the forest and watershed health benefits this legislation this
should produce, the rural economies of eastern Oregon will also benefit. Increased
agreement on forest management on a large scale will ensure a secure supply of wood
products for loggers and mills.
The Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act differs
from other forest legislation proposals in a number of key ways. The legislation is
based on an historic agreement among conservation organizations and timber
companies, does not attempt to weaken environmental safeguards like the Endangered
Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act, and ensures Americans retain their
rights to challenge federal agencies in court if they believe the agencies are breaking the
law.
This legislation comes at a critical moment in the debate over eastern Oregon forests. A
century of misguided management is being compounded by global warming, increasing
the urgency to protect remaining old-growth and watersheds for the benefit of native fish,
wildlife, and people.
Although supported by a broad coalition of environmental groups, including Oregon
Wild, the National Center for Conservation and Policy, the Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands
Center, and the Nature Conservancy, the bill does reflect compromises, for example:
Administrative Appeals under OEFROGPJA: In a provision that has raised some concern
in the conservation community, the Act would provide that no administrative appeals
be allowed during an intial 3-year interim transition period. Nonetheless, access to
litigation in court would be unchanged. There would also be an automatic 35-day stay
of an approved project’s ground- or vegetation-disturbing activities to allow an aggrieved
party time to file a lawsuit. After the interim transition period, a new administrative
“objection” process would replace administrative appeals as the method of
administrative review for ecological restoration projects. The new objection process
would encourage opportunities to more aggressively and informally resolve concerns
about ecological restoration projects before an aggrieved party feels the need to go to
court.
Interim Timber Production Mandate: In a provision sought by the timber industry, the
legislation would mandate that the Forest Service produce treatment projects averaging
100,000 acres/year during the initial 3-year period that produce marketable timber as a
“byproduct.” Such projects would have to comply with other provisions of the new
Act, as well as existing law (including regulations). In addition, the projects cannot be in
Inventoried Roadless Areas and would be in areas where many conservationists and
scientists believe that such treatments are needed. An analysis of forest types indicates
that adequate amounts of lands in such need exist to meet this interim mandate. If the
three-year interim mandated target is attained, it would result in the estimated annual
treatment of just 1.1% of ponderosa pine-dominated forests outside of Wilderness and
Inventoried Roadless Areas.
In announcing the bill, Wyden, who chairs the Senate’s Subcommittee on Public Lands
and Forests also stressed the importance of increasing funding for the Forest Service’s
management activities and said he would use his subcommittee chairmanship to
conduct continuous oversight of the agency’s implementation of the legislation.
“There is no better way to restore our forests and jobs in some of the hardest-hit
counties in our state than to increase the Forest Service budget for forest restoration,”
added Wyden. “It will be a top priority for me, and a frequent topic in my subcommittee.”
At the present time, there is no companion legislation in the House.♦
(Home)