Wednesday, April 21, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Collaborative promotes City of Sisters bulletin
forest restoration
By Cory Misley
The prescribed fires
touched off southwest of
Sisters last week are repre-
sentative of the kind of work
the Deschutes Collaborative
Forest Project is built to
promote.
The Deschutes Collab-
orative Forest Project aims
to restore local forests to a
healthier, more resilient con-
dition through science-driven
restoration projects. The
Collaborative is comprised
of a volunteer stakeholder
committee of 19 community
members representing land
management agencies, tribal
groups, the timber indus-
try, environmental nonprof-
its, recreational and tourism
interests, scientists, govern-
ment officials, and wildlife
specialists.
Rod Bonacker of Sisters
is part of that steering
committee.
<The conversations that
are had there are very open
and very science-focused and
they really forward the mis-
sion of forest restoration and
fuels reduction,= he said.
The Collaborative plays
an active role in community
education about the need for
active forest restoration 4
and in lobbying to get the
funds allocated to actually do
the work.
<The Forest Service
can9t lobby for more fund-
ing for forest restoration and
fuels reduction,= Bonacker
said. <But the Collaborative
can 4 and has.=
The Collaborative seeks
to promote safer communi-
ties, and improved wildlife
habitat, and to protect water
resources. By promoting for-
est projects, they seek to grow
opportunities for jobs work-
ing in the forest, while pro-
tecting local economies from
the often devastating effects
of disruption from wildfire.
Dave Stowe has been a
part of the Collaborative for a
dozen years, through his affil-
iation with the Sierra Club.
<I grew up on this forest
and I9ve loved it my whole
life,= he said. <And my fam-
ily has lived on this forest for
generations before me.=
Stowe didn9t like a lot
of the changes he was see-
ing on the forest as the area
grew, and he sought a way
to engage effectively in pro-
tecting and enhancing the
landscape he loves. The
Collaborative seemed like a
place to do that.
Initially, he said, <it wasn9t
much fun.= There was a lot of
the traditional head-butting
between environmentalists
and loggers. But gradually,
simply through the process
of working together, relation-
ships developed, and com-
mon goals emerged.
<It was extremely chal-
lenging at the start,= he said.
<It went from that to having
really great relationships with
all these different members
of the community& you start
to trust people and see their
point of view.=
Bringing together people
from a wide variety of back-
grounds and interests, and
working with people at the
cutting edge of forest science,
the Collaborative was able to
move onto a wide swath of
common ground.
What that common ground
amounts to is a pretty simple
proposition, Stowe notes:
Whether you want to work
in the woods, ride your bike,
hike, fish in the streams and
lakes, <the common ground in
all that is, you need a healthy
forest to do that in.=
Defining what a healthy
forest is requires a deep under-
standing of the science, which
Stowe feels he has received.
<The decisions we make
in the Collaborative are
deeply science-driven, which
I really appreciate,= he said.
<I9ve learned a ton in this
Collaborative. I9m a richer
person for it and I have a better
understanding of the forest.=
For more information on
the Collabvorative and its
work and how to get involved,
visit http://deschutes
collaborativeforest.org/.
The conversations
that are had there are
very open and very
science-focused and they
really forward the mission
of forest restoration and
fuels reduction
— Rod Bonacker
City Manager
The City of Sisters is cel-
ebrating its 75th anniversary
of incorporation this year.
Over the decades, there
have been many topics and
issues that have created con-
versation, and sometimes
controversy, in the commu-
nity. Fortunately, the people
here and now in Sisters are
willing to come together for
vibrant discussion, putting
the bigger picture above their
perspective and interests,
acknowledging the chal-
lenges of balancing many
factors and constraints.
Most notably are those at
the City who volunteer to be
elected on City Council or
appointed to a City commit-
tee. There are several dozens
of these community members
dedicating their time to shape
Sisters through countless past
and current projects.
Over the past few years,
the City and numerous other
community partner organi-
zations have reached out to
hear how we can best shape
the future of Sisters. It was a
year-long planning process in
2018/19 to create the Sisters
Country Vision led by the
Vision Action Team consist-
ing of 31 members.
The vision we created for
ourselves is <the overarch-
ing aspiration for this place
we call home. Incorporating
input from participants across
the community, it reflects the
ideas and words of Sisters
Country residents them-
selves 4 and their intentions
for a more prosperous, liv-
able, resilient, and connected
community.=
It includes 20 strategies,
five per focus area, that were
thoroughly developed, vet-
ted, and ranked by the com-
munity. Under <Prosperous=
there is the strategy
Forest Service Property
Development: <Facilitate the
development of a masterplan
on the U.S. Forest Service
property that is compatible
with the community9s char-
acter and identity, combin-
ing mixed-used commercial,
residential, and recreational
facilities that anchor and
define the community, create
new jobs, and provide hous-
ing options.=
Balancing factors and
constraints, there has been
progress towards that strat-
egy. To get a good sense of
where the community is
going refer to the strategies
in the Vision as the Vision
Implementation Team (VIT)
continues to work together to
further those community pri-
orities through action items.
Everything is more com-
plicated than it seems and
often it is not easy to under-
stand. The people that make
up the organization at the
City of Sisters want to edu-
cate, engage, and empower
the community 4 we work
in public service for those
reasons.
The ongoing Comprehen-
sive Plan Update that started
last fall is incorporating the
Vision and other commu-
nity feedback into the City9s
overarching legal planning
document. It is the <teeth=
that allows us to manage and
5
shape growth.
It is too simplistic to say
either pro-growth or anti-
growth. We must plan intel-
ligently for the community
we want tomorrow and pull
the levers within our control.
Among other things, we can-
not defy the state9s land-use
planning system, and Sisters
does do not exist in a bubble
immune to a global pandemic
creating <Zoom towns.=
I enjoy working in Sisters
for a variety of reasons.
One reason, especially in
the political culture lately,
is that the distance between
constituents and represen-
tatives is measured in feet
and city blocks, not hun-
dreds or thousands of miles.
Unfortunately, some do not
see the value of that distinc-
tion. I can say confidently
that the City is made up of
people who are welcoming
and want to help. We offer
invitations to participate and
proactively engage to the
best of our ability. The reality
is if you want to get involved
you can, and it is as simple
as calling me if you want to
learn more about anything
related to the City.
I may not have all the
answers, or tell you what
you want to hear, but I will
always have an open, honest,
fact-based conversation, and
thank you for your input.