Jamie Dawson, Public Lands Campaigner, Oregon Wild, [email protected]
Mathieu Federspiel, Executive Committee, Juniper Group Sierra Club, [email protected]
Today Oregon Wild and the Juniper Group Sierra Club withdrew from the Ochoco Forest Restoration Collaborative. The two organizations were long-time members of the Central Oregon collaborative and the last remaining environmental advocacy organizations.
Letters from the respective organizations are here:
Representatives from the organizations had this to say:
Jamie Dawson, Public Lands Campaigner, Oregon Wild, Bend, OR:
"What once was an opportunity for diverse interests to find common ground and guide the Forest Service to better outcomes has become another place to create a mirage of public support for increasingly controversial logging practices and projects. We can no longer allow Oregon Wild’s name to lend credibility to these efforts."
Mathieu Federspiel, Executive Committee, Juniper Group Sierra Club, Bend, OR:
"We have participated since 2017 on this collaborative, and have been frustrated by the overwhelming influence of extractive industries and old-school beliefs about forest management. Recent changes to how the organization operates and rushed votes on issues have brought our concerns to a head. This organization is not providing an arena for collaboration and we have decided we can no longer participate."
