Collaboration on forests sets course for future

The East Oregonian weighs in on the Wyden forest legislation.

It's no surprise, really, that the Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act is sparking some controversy in the local region. Eastern Oregon residents are outspoken and proprietary about the public forests in their back yard.

And there's no question that this bill raises some concerns for them.

Yet the bill, proposed by Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., also represents a major attempt to break the gridlock over our forests and create some movement in our economy - to think outside the box. Put simply, the idea is to jumpstart restoration work, protect old trees and relieve some of the fire danger in our overstocked forests, all the while restoring a flow of timber to keep our mills alive and our communities working.

In the region it seeks to serve, some observers worry the bill contains conflicting language about tree harvest and fish protections, makes unwarranted assumptions about funding and increases, rather than reduces, the bureaucracy facing federal forest managers.

John Shelk of Prineville-based Ochoco Lumber Co., a strong supporter of the bill, acknowledges the concerns, but he also said he believes the glitches can be resolved. As just one example, Shelk notes the private lawyers for two major and oft-opposing factions - one industry, one environmental - are working together on endangered-fish regulation issues, an area that has sparked opposition to the bill. That joint effort by seasoned litigators is a significant sign of the intense motivation to find ways to move this legislation forward.

While the dialogue continues, the bill already can claim one bit of success - it is raising awareness about the state of eastside pine forests and the distinct management challenges they pose. That may not seem like rocket science here in Eastern Oregon, but it has been a tough message to sell in verdant Western Oregon - and in the halls of Congress.

In addition to raising the decibel level, the bill has shown that once-warring factions can sit in the same room, hash out their differences and reach a consensus on a plan of action. Note this bill was the culmination of more than a year of negotiations between industry representatives, environmental advocates and political staffers.

While some local folks are leery about the promise of collaboration, it seems to be the course of the future. The smart money is on those who decide to come to the table and be heard, rather than those who rail at the process and risk ending up with no voice at all.

If the bill isn't perfect, we need to remember it also isn't cast in stone. Work done in committee could make significant changes, and some of that work no doubt will reflect the testimony - pro and con - heard in recent hearings on the bill. In the end, we can hope for a bill that has a chance at approval in Congress and also addresses local concerns.

Ochoco's Shelk sees the bill as our best hope to end the standoff in Oregon's eastside forests. Given that he's got the only consistently running sawmill left in Grant County, we believe his voice is worth a listen.

The challenges to rural, resource-based economies aren't getting simpler. If the battles over timber seem contentious, fasten your seatbelt for the water issues that are only surfacing now. Not without controversy, the Wyden bill nonetheless offers a framework for innovative management of the eastside forests.

We believe the criticisms can be addressed, and the result will be a step forward for the forests, the industry and the rural eastside communities.