While i don’t know much at all about the details of this eco-restoration
effort in the forests of southwestern Oregon-but we need to be thinking
along these lines as a beginning. Localized/regionalized eco-restoration &
rewilding efforts that involve everyone in the area (including local
sawmills & workers).
Without salivating over the whole “Obama-mania” thing (much of it
contrived, i believe) that’s being fostered nowadays, the notion of
“policy-as-a-tactic-not-a-goal” may work resonably well under the Obama
regime-& this can manifest in the launching of such projects everywhere
)the capital can come from both the Pentagon as well as
extractive-industry subsidies).
Hell-it ain’t rocket science…& time’s running out.
ASW
<http://www.siskiyou.org/> Logo full color with text copy.jpg
“Shane Jimerfield, Siskiyou Project” <shane@siskiyou.org>
December, 2008
Siskiyou Project Signs Historic 10 Year-10,000 Acre Stewardship
Agreement
In November, Siskiyou Project, Lomakatsi Restoration Project
<http://lomakatsi.org/> and the U.S. Forest Service entered into a ten
year, ten thousand acre Master Stewardship Agreement to achieve a variety
of goals:
. Ecological Restoration & Climate Change Resiliency
. Reduce the Risk of Fire
. Community Collaboration
. Enterprise Creation
The area addressed in the Master Stewardship Agreement (MSA) is known as the
Wild Rivers Ranger District and lies within the borders of the Rogue
River-Siskiyou National Forest. Conditions within the Wild Rivers Ranger
District have changed over time from wildfire suppression and timber
harvest activities, resulting in overstocked stands and unnatural accumulations of
fuels. Forest stands have become denser, increasing fire hazard, reducing
wildlife forage, and depleting water resources needed to sustain riparian
vegetation and salmon populations. Fire behavior within the
rural/wildlands interface has an increased potential to destroy property
and threaten human lives.
The MSA brings together distinct and overlapping skills, values, and
missions. Together Lomakatsi and Siskiyou Project are equipped to address
and assist in implementing the variety of goals and objectives of the
projects which are sought by this Master Stewardship Agreement. We have
been actively engaged in development and implementation of community supported
stewardship and restoration forestry practices on these landscapes in the
past. All parties share an interest in improving the condition and
function of this landscape, not only for wildfire and fuels concerns, but also for
landscape and stand diversity. A healthy landscape provides a variety of
benefits well beyond the needs of a single species, and therefore benefits
all parties.
It is therefore mutually beneficial to work together to implement forest
restoration projects within the context of a landscape that will help
protect private property, reduce unnatural levels of forest fuels, and
ultimately restore forest and aquatic habitats.
Read more <http://www.siskiyou.org/c-far/index.html> .
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Siskiyou Project Protests WOPR
This week Siskiyou Project submitted a formal protest of the Western Oregon
Plan Revisions (WOPR, pronounced “Whopper”). Our focus was on the impacts
WOPR would bring to aquatic values, such as streams and salmon. Other
issues of concern:
. A ramp up of clear-cutting in areas presently off limits to
logging along salmon streams and in old growth preserves established by
the Northwest Forest Plan.
. Clear-cutting would destroy wildlife habitat, greatly increase
fire risk, and release large amounts of climate-warming carbon into the
atmosphere.
. Increased clear-cutting and road-building would increase salmon
killing sediment into local streams.
. View sheds would be scarred by road cuts and deforestation from
clear-cutting.
. Soil damage, vegetation destruction, and noise pollution would be
promoted in 7 Off Highway Vehicle emphasis area where the dominant use would
be by unlicensed offroad vehicle users.
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Governor Kulongoski Rejects WOPR
Today, Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski sent a letter to the Bureau of Land
Management rejecting their Western Oregon Plan Revisions and reasserting
his support for the Wild Rogue and other important values.
In his letter the Governor, stated that the WOPR is not consistent with his
support for additional protections for the Wild Rogue – over 58,000 acres of
Wilderness and over 98 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers additions to the
tributary streams.
Additionally, he stated “this work is the wrong approach and is legally
inconsistent with the requirements of the ESA.”
I want to thank all of you who have made phone calls, and sent letters and
postcards asking the Governor to help. He listened and made a strong
stand, and we must remember to thank him.
Read <http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/P2008/press_120808.shtml> more.
tiled.jpg
Support <http://www.siskiyou.org/join/join_or_donate.cfm> Siskiyou Project
donate online now.
Shane Jimerfield
Executive Director
<http://www.siskiyou.org/> Siskiyou Project
213 SE H. St., Grants Pass, OR 97526
Office: 541-476-6648, Cell: 541-499-2064
Learn more about the Siskiyou Wild Rivers Area and our efforts to secure
permanent protection for its globally significant wild salmon, botanical
diversity, wildlands and wild rivers at www.siskiyou.org
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