Opinion
A4
Thursday, July 21, 2022
OUR VIEW
Preserving
farmland must
be a priority
ark Twain is credited with telling
readers to buy land because, he
warned, they aren’t making more of it.
Unfortunately, farmland sold is too often put to
other uses and is lost forever.
A new report from the American Farmland
Trust warns that the Pacifi c Northwest stands to
lose more than half a million acres of farmland to
urban sprawl by 2040 unless cities make smarter
development choices.
Between 2000 and 2016 alone, roughly 11
million acres of farmland has been lost or frag-
mented by development.
Across the Northwest, as many as 527,185
acres of additional farmland may be lost to urban
and low-density residential development by 2040
— particularly in rapidly growing metro areas
around the Puget Sound, Portland, Spokane and
Boise.
Washington would be the hardest-hit state,
losing 238,614 acres of farmland under the worst-
case scenario. That is an area roughly 4-1/2 times
the size of Seattle.
Oregon would lose up to 142,267 acres of
farmland, while Idaho would lose up to 146,304
acres.
Our own reporting has shown that when urban
development moves into rural spaces more than
farmland can be lost. As areas fall to other uses,
the overall viability of the local ag infrastructure
comes into jeopardy.
As fi elds give way to housing developments,
confl icts between homeowners and farms
increase. New residents don’t like the dust and
smells associated with farm production, and com-
plain about farm machinery on the roads and
trucks during harvest time.
And, as developments break up the landscape,
farmers fi nd it ever more diffi cult to move equip-
ment from fi eld to fi eld.
We can’t fault farm families for getting the
highest value for their property. Where there are
buyers, there will be sellers.
As an alternative to development, we favor
easement programs that allow owners to sell their
development rights and realize the market value
of their land while preserving it for farming.
We encourage state legislatures to fund those
types of programs while taking steps to rein in
urban sprawl.
Preserving farmland must be a priority.
When developers look at farm and range land,
they see “empty” spaces with nothing on it. They
see parcels for subdivisions, apartment buildings,
shopping malls and restaurants.
Farmland is far from empty. It provides the
food that sustains us and the fi ber that clothes us.
It is a vital strategic resource. It is, as Thomas Jef-
ferson said, the wealth of the nation.
Farmland is more than just a patch of ground
with stuff planted on it. Once paved over and
developed, it cannot be replaced.
M
EDITORIALS
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opinion of The Observer editorial
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opinions of the authors and not
necessarily that of The Observer.
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Solid foundation exists for forest plan
SUSAN
ROBERTS
OTHER VIEWS
he Blues Intergovernmental
Council supports the USDA
Forest Service’s plans to
reinitiate forest plan revision for
the Malheur, Umatilla and Wal-
lowa-Whitman national forests.
The work completed by the BIC
over the past two years has established
key foundations that will be crucial
components of an improved forest plan
revision process by refl ecting local
values, incorporating input and pro-
viding robust opportunities for mean-
ingful engagement.
On March 14, 2019, the Forest Ser-
vice’s deputy chief issued instruction
to the Forest Service Pacifi c Northwest
Regional Forester to withdraw the
Blue Mountains Revised Land Man-
agement Plans, Final Environmental
Impact Statement and draft Record
of Decision. This decision came after
nearly 15 years of a highly conten-
tious public planning process in which
numerous community members and
leaders felt frustrated, misunderstood
and ignored. The objection process
yielded more than 350 objections to
the forest plans, which made clear that
the public did not see how input pro-
vided had been incorporated nor did
the plans fully account for the unique
social and economic needs of the
aff ected communities.
Following the withdrawal of the
Blue Mountains Forest Plan, lead-
ership from the Pacifi c Northwest
Regional Offi ce and the Malheur,
Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman
national forests met with the Eastern
Oregon Counties Association in April
2019 to coordinate, better understand
concerns and identify opportunities
to approach forest planning and man-
agement in a new way. The partici-
pants recognized the need to explore
unique approaches and work together
T
at a larger scale, which included other
government entities within and sur-
rounding the Blue Mountains geo-
graphic area.
The various government enti-
ties offi cially formed the Blues Inter-
governmental Council in November
2019 to serve as an overarching entity
and develop joint recommendations
on the most contentious issues iden-
tifi ed in the Blue Mountains Forest
Plan revision process. The BIC mem-
bers include leaders from all 14 local
counties as well as federal, state and
tribal government entities. The diverse
membership of the BIC ensures
numerous perspectives and interests
are represented.
Since the BIC formed, mem-
bers have worked together to develop
desired conditions for Forest Service
consideration on several key and pre-
viously polarizing issues in the with-
drawn Blue Mountains Forest Plan,
including riparian livestock grazing,
fi sheries, hydrology, forest health
and access. The BIC also commis-
sioned and oversaw the completion
of a socioeconomic analysis that will
off er data to help consider impacts of
forest management decisions on local
communities.
The BIC-endorsed desired condi-
tions serve as recommendations to
the Forest Service to inform the forest
plan revision process (with a minority
report included for the access issue).
The collective work over the past two
years has fostered trust and strength-
ened relationships between the key
intergovernmental groups within the
BIC and the Forest Service.
The BIC members and leadership
from the Blue Mountains national for-
ests feel this unique approach will
provide a crucial foundation for suc-
cess in accomplishing a revision of
the Blue Mountains Forest Plan in a
timely manner. By building off the
past plan revision analysis, the BIC’s
endorsed desired conditions products
and connections that each member
has with various community perspec-
tives, we have an exceptional opportu-
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Susan Roberts is a Wallowa County
commissioner and a co-convener of the Blues
Intergovernmental Council.
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nity to develop updated forest plans for
these national forests that provide for
the sustainable needs of the landscape
and the needs of current and future
generations.
Building off these accomplish-
ments, the BIC believes the Forest
Service should move forward with
the plan revision process under the
2012 Planning Rule, with the goal
of working together to develop sus-
tainable forest plans that refl ect local
values, incorporate input and pro-
vide robust opportunities for mean-
ingful engagement. We support the
Forest Service’s plan to establish a
local team and would urge this be
done as quickly as possible to main-
tain the forward momentum the BIC
has achieved in these last two years.
By working together through this
intergovernmental forum, the BIC can
serve as a bridge between the Forest
Service and communities surrounding
the Blue Mountains to help repair
and build trust, provide clarity about
the planning process and plan com-
ponents, complement Forest Service
public outreach eff orts and bring con-
tinual feedback to the Forest Service
regarding ways to improve the process
or products.
While there will still be passion
around important issues, we feel that
through the joint eff orts between the
BIC and the Forest Service we have
built important relationships and
developed key recommendations that
address much of the previous contro-
versy. This has built a solid foundation
to move forward now with forest plan
revision.
Vast progress has been made in the
Blue Mountains. We look forward to
working together with the Forest Ser-
vice to steward these national forest
lands in a way that provides for sus-
tainable land management while con-
sidering the communities’ economic
and social-cultural health.
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