K-S Wild, SREP defend the Siskiyou Crest National Monument proposal

From our weekly issue dated September 29, 2010

SCOTT JORGENSEN
I V News Staff Writer

Pristine forests such as this continue to be in the middle of the ongoing debate regarding the use of natural resources and public lands. The proposed Siskiyou Crest National Monument, which would encompass nearly a million acres in the region, has prompted strong reactions from people on both sides of the issue. (IVN file photo)

Representatives from two area environmental groups promoted the proposed Siskiyou Crest National Monument, an expansion of the Oregon Caves National Monument and efforts to add more protections to sections of the Rogue River during a Wednesday, Sept. 22 interview.

Shane Jimerfield, executive director of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project (SREP), said that non-profit organization started in the Illinois Valley in 1983.

“It was formed by some folks, mostly living in the Takilma area,” Jimerfield said. “And it was largely a response to what they saw happening on the public lands around their homes and in the valley and across Southwest Oregon.”

Jimerfield said that SREP’s mission is to educate the public about environmental issues, work with government agencies to ensure that projects on public lands don’t result in harm and protecting wildlife, salmon, streams and old-growth timber.

“Fairly new” to SREP, Jimerfield said, is a community forestry program aimed at building the workforce in the Illinois Valley to restore areas that have been damaged in the past.

As an example, he cited a 10-year, 10,000 acre stewardship program done in cooperation with the Siskiyou National Forest and the Ashland-based environmental group Lomakatsi. That has resulted in work being done around Takilma, Jimerfield said, and projects are being considered near the Oregon Caves and Hayes Hill.

SREP is also working on obtaining added protections for the wild section of the Rogue River, Jimerfield said, and is working with the Ashland-based Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center (K-S Wild) on that and a proposed expansion of the Caves monument.

K-S Wild Campaign Coordinator Joseph Vaile said that group was founded in 1997 by residents in the Applegate Valley who were “concerned about what was happening in their backyard.”

Vaile said that the Southwestern Oregon region is “incredible” with regards to its biological diversity, and has many rare species, unique soils and different habitat types. There are more conifer species of tree in the area than anywhere else in North America, he added.

A top priority for K-S Wild, Vaile said, is to work with “diverse stakeholders” to develop collaborative models of forestry management, such as stewardship programs aimed at removing small diameter wood and reducing fire risks.

“That’s something we’ve been spending a lot more time on lately,” Vaile said.

Jimerfield stated that the “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign would encompass around 58,000 acres of land and 100 miles of tributaries and salmon-producing streams along the river.

Vaile said that he has met with representatives from the American Forest Resource Council (AFRC) timber group to solicit their support for the campaign.

AFRC was concerned about a bill that had been proposed by U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Springfield), U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) to add more wild and scenic designations to streams along the Rogue River, Vaile said.

However, Vaile said that a deal was negotiated, under which areas with timber infrastructure like roads and tree plantations were excluded from the proposal.

“I think they recognize that it’s not a place where they’re going to be getting much timber from,” Vaile said.

Although environmentalists and the timber industry may not agree on everything, Vaile said, conversations between them can still be productive.

“There’s probably a lot more fertile ground for discussion than we’ve ever given credit to, so that’s what we’re excited about,” he said.

Around 80 local businesses are supporting the “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign, Vaile said, adding that many people think that the area involved is already wilderness.

“This isn’t the Rogue around Grants Pass. This is way down in the Wild and Scenic stretch where people put in for their multi-day floats,” Vaile said. “People are coming from all over to spend money, to float the Rogue, to fish on the Rogue and have a wilderness experience down there.”

Jimerfield said that efforts to expand the Oregon Caves National Monument are prompted by the fact that at around 400 acres, it is one of the smallest monuments in the country.

Expanding the monument could lead to the addition of more trails, Jimerfield said, which would make it more of a destination and prompt tourists to extend their stays in the area.

Much of the land near the Caves is managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Jimerfield said that promoting tourism isn’t among USFS’s missions, but the National Park Service is better suited for that purpose.

Vaile stated his reasons for supporting the Siskiyou Crest National Monument, which has been proposed by K-S Wild.

“The management has been really difficult,” Vaile said. “It has many different federal land management units.”

Because the Siskiyou Crest straddles two states, Vaile said, it is managed by the Klamath National Forest office in California, the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon and the Bureau of Land Management.

Opposition to the proposal may be premature, Vaile said.

“I don’t think this is anything that’s going to happen anytime soon,” he said. “Folks shouldn’t be too worried about it being an eminent designation.”

Jimerfield said that the monument would allow the land contained within it to be managed “in a holistic, integrated way.”

Constructive dialogue will be the key to avoiding a prolonged continuation of the timber wars that have plagued the region for the past three decades, Jimerfield said.

“I’ll be the first to admit-neither side treated each other well,” Jimerfield said. “(But) we have to re-integrate our community. We have to get back to the table. We have to put the past aside, put the hate rhetoric aside and find that common ground and move forward.”

Vaile and Jimerfield met with the Southern Oregon Resource Alliance (SORA) earlier this year seeking that group’s support for the “Save the Wild Rogue” campaign. SORA is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1976 by former Josephine County Commissioner Anne G. Basker to advocate for timber, mining and agricultural interests.

Although SORA and SREP have both been around for several years, Jimerfield said, they had never had such a discussion before.

“We need to do more of that,” he said.

Jimerfield disputed the notion that environmentalists are seeking to eliminate private property rights.

“I own private property too,” Jimerfield said. “I’m not about taking peoples’ private property. Never have been, never will be.