Editorial: Time to end war on east-side forests

Sen. Wyden recognizes the importance of maintaining a mill work force

Technology was supposed to replace forest products as Oregon's dominant industry. To an extent, that has occurred. But as The Oregonian noted last week, technology is faltering, and may not live up to its promise.

We are foolish to ignore Oregon's forests and the industry they have spawned. High-tech firms will come and go, but Oregon's forests are a permanent fixture. And that is why Sen. Ron Wyden's deal for Eastern Oregon forests is so significant. Wyden's legislation, introduced last week, offers rare hope for lifting the stalemate over Oregon's embattled eastside forests.

That hope stems not just from the content of the proposed Oregon Eastside Forests Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act, but the unlikely collection of supporters who gathered in Washington, D.C. for its unveiling. In his Dec. 16 press conference, the Oregon Democrat was flanked by environmental activists and timber magnates who admit that, in past times, they would have fought like cats in a bag.

For this moment, however, they stood in agreement on several things: That the pine ecosystems of the national forests in Eastern Oregon are imperiled. That they are worth saving. And that with cooperation, reasonable science and adequate funding, they can be restored to their former grandeur.

The legislation is the product of more than a year of negotiation and it emerged with concessions all around. The timber industry is agreeing to limits on old-growth and large timber, while the conservation groups pledge to hold off on appeals of the projects generated by the bill. A scientific panel would be created to shape large-scale restoration work.

It is the closest thing to a lifeline that Eastern Oregon's fire-prone forests and struggling communities have had in years.

Forestry experts agree that forest restoration will be difficult, if not impossible, if we lose the local mills and employment base to do the work. That infrastructure is eroding.

Tom Partin of the American Forest Resource Council noted that if Eastern Oregon's milling capacity is lost - as has happened in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Wyoming - the total cost of forest health restoration will skyrocket. Taxpayers will have to foot the bill, or wait and watch helplessly as the forests are decimated by fire and insects.

As much as good will between former foes can buy, this deal will also take real money. The Forest Service will need the funding to do the studies and planning to bring this concept to reality. Wyden is in a good position to influence that funding, as chairman of the Senate's Public Lands Subcommittee.

Meanwhile, there are doubters and nay-sayers out there. All of the groups represented this week have to answer not only to their constituents but to the extremists in their camps who believe that a fight to the death is preferable to any kind of compromise or collaboration. We hope the latter will be recognized for what it is, the politics of self-destruction.

Wyden stressed that the public has tired of a forest standoff that results in a "lose-lose" for all concerned. It's time to try looking for a "win-win" for our forests and the Oregon Eastside Forest Act is a good place to start.