Applegater Spring 2012 19
OPINIONS
Is it our backyard —
or isn’t it?
BY SANDY ShAffEr
Our national forests, our federal
recreation areas, monuments and parks…
are they really ours? Are they any more
“ours” if we live next to them? And, does
being good neighbors with said federal
neighbor count for anything?
I’ve only been involved in natural
resource and wildfire issues for a little over
ten years, but it seems like I’ve seen a lot of
change in that time. Or maybe it’s just that
there’s always “something new” coming
down the pike.
In 2000 we were presented with
the National Fire Plan, which provided
direction on how to address the serious
wildfires our nation was having. The
Applegate embraced this, grabbed grant
funding, and with the help of our fire and
natural resource agency partners, wrote
our own Applegate Fire Plan. Some
questioned the validity of a “plan” written
by a community, but we got right to work
thinning vegetation to create our defensible
spaces, doing our part in the wildfire
picture. We also prioritized places for our
federal land managers to reduce hazardous
fuels around our Applegate communities,
and lo and behold, they did what our Fire
Plan suggested.
We had wildfires in the summer
of 2002, and our fuels work helped
firefighting efforts in the Squires Peak
Fire. So much so that the President came
to town, bringing the Healthy Forest
Restoration Act (HFRA) with him. More
direction, for federal land managers and
for communities in the Wildland Urban
Interface or WUI that faced the threat of
wildfire. The Applegate snatched some of
that HFRA funding and kept doing more
hazardous fuels work.
By this time nearly 90% of the
homeowners in the Applegate had created
defensible space around their homes,
and many were getting help to thin even
more of their property for better forest
health and resiliency. The federal land
managers—both the Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) and the Forest
Service—in turn got more funding to
do more thinning on their lands in the
Applegate, and we seemed to collectively be
making a difference. However, no timber
was being cut, so mills were closing.
Then came the BLM’s new Western
Oregon (Resource Management) Plan
Revision, or WOPR. It was all about
timber, and so Applegate folks fought
to include responsible management
that met the needs of our SW Oregon
“Mediterranean” climate written into this
WOPR. The WOPR eventually replaced
the Northwest Forest Plan and then was
rescinded, but the fight drained a lot of
energy from folks.
Land management seemed to
languish for a while and we were lucky to
not have any big wildfires, but many other
states did. Federal fiscal issues brought a
call from Congress for a new Cohesive
Strategy for wildfire management in an
effort to reduce national fire suppression
costs. (I’ve written about this strategy
before in the Applegater.) The underlying
premise of the Strategy is to shift more
responsibility for wildfires to state and local
entities, even as many counties in western
states are struggling with their own budget
shortfalls due to the loss of federal timber
receipts. The Strategy wants communities
to become “fire-adapted.”
Several years later, the planning of
this new national wildfire Strategy is still
ongoing, and yes, I’m still hanging in there,
attending conferences, meetings and calls
on it. Someone’s got to help them figure
out what a “fire-adapted community”
means!
Meanwhile, vegetation in our forests
keeps growing, mills are still closed, and
new folks continue to move into the WUI
at steady rates. Every once in a while
someone tries to lock up our lands in
wilderness areas or monuments, but those
who truly care about our watershed know
this isn’t what the land needs. It needs
management. During the 2001 Quartz
Fire we saw firsthand what happens if we
don’t thin our old growth stands: they burn
to black sticks and ash, and critical owl
habitat is destroyed.
Applegaters inherently seem to
recognize and cherish the specialness of our
watershed, and so many dedicated folks
here haven’t given up. Our new (Secretary
of the Interior) Pilot Projects here in the
Applegate are the result of thousands of
hours of collaboration, communication
and hard work by many partners towards
finding a solution to forest management
in our region.
I like the concepts of the prescriptions
and methodology that were proposed
for our Pilot Projects. I do have some
reservations around the implementation
of these prescriptions, because it’s not the
same old way of doing things, and some
folks still are adamant that the “old way”
is what we need to get back to.
As I write this, I have not yet seen the
work on the ground in Pilot country (too
much snow), but I’ve heard comments both
favorable and not. However, if the BLM
can make the Pilots work environmentally,
financially and wildfire-safety wise, I feel
that this might very well be the answer to
our local forest health and timber receipt
problems. To say nothing about helping to
make the neighborhoods of the Applegate
more fire safe.
With the new Cohesive Strategy
calling for more responsibility by locals
to prepare their communities for wildfire,
with more people moving into Oregon’s
WUI, with our Counties facing financial
collapse, and with more and more of our
forests overstocked to the point of falling
prey to insects and disease, I can almost
understand why our desperate lawmakers
are concocting preposterous new laws
to try and get back to the old way of
logging. Laws that are written in the
offices of politicians with the help of the
timber industry or national environmental
organizations, but without input from local
folks who are neighbors to the federal lands
in question? I think not!
In my opinion, federal land
management isn’t working the way it is
right now, and things do need to change.
I feel that land management needs to be
balanced, and that those who live next
to federal lands and care about said land
management issues should have a more
powerful voice than folks from say, New
York or Los Angeles.
But laws that propose to throw
out a century of building a national
system of environmental management
and protection can’t be legal, and they
can’t be good. I don’t feel these proposed
laws are good for the land, the forests, our
waterways, or our wild critters. They aren’t
good for sustainable timber production
or for wildfire hazard reduction, and they
certainly aren’t good for people who live
next to federal land (roughly one in three
landowners in the Applegate).
And, they won’t help make our
Applegate communities more able to
withstand a catastrophic wildfire.
So if you feel as I do, get involved,
learn about the issues and speak up
constructively to our elected officials,
so that we Applegaters can and will
have a voice in the management of “our
backyard.” We can’t go back to the old
ways of cutting timber and we also can’t do
nothing, because if we do, Mother Nature
(or our elected representatives) will step in
and do something for us.
Sandy Shaffer, sassyoneOR@q.com
Genesis of
Applegate Valley Days
BY ED tEmPLE
Applegate Valley Days came about
originally as a fundraiser for Cantrall-
Buckley Park. Cantrall-Buckley Park,
although county-owned, is managed
by the Greater Applegate Community
Development Corporation, a nonprofit
501(c)3 community-based group that
has taken on the responsibility to fund
and maintain the park, rather than have
Jackson County close it.
When I was approached to organize
the fundraiser, I agreed with the stipulation
that we make the event broader and more
encompassing in order to celebrate the
totality of the Applegate Valley.
Having lived in the Applegate Valley
for over 22 years, I feel it is my true home.
My wife and I have made wonderful
friends, we live on one of the prettiest
pieces of land God created and are eternally
grateful to be able to live the life we have.
For me it is an opportunity to give back,
to share and to show what true treasures
we have here.
There are many events in the
Applegate throughout the year, mostly
small with targeted audiences. I had this
vision: what if we have a major three-day
event in early summer that would appeal
to almost everybody. I wanted to have
something that, whether you were four
years old or one hundred and four, would
be of interest to you. We really have it all
here in our wonderful area. I guess I should
preface the above with this disclaimer:
I’m talking about history, natural beauty,
recreation, good food, excellent wine and
good old-fashioned fun.
Applegate Valley Days is a lot of work,
with a lot of folks working hard to make it a
success. We want to make Applegate Valley
Days an annual event with the proceeds
going back into community projects. This
year the proceeds will go to improvements
in Cantrall-Buckley Park. We also want to
showcase all of the Applegate Valley. We
have some of the finest wines in the world
produced here (not just my opinion, they
are worldwide award winners), organic
produce at its finest, and unsurpassed
recreational opportunities.
As you look at the events that are
planned, I hope you find something
appealing. You might wonder, why is this
guy so willing to share his part of paradise?
The fact is that there is enough beauty and
serenity to go around. The area is large
enough that we welcome visitors, and land
use is so strictly regulated in the rural areas
of Oregon that we don’t have to worry
about it being overbuilt.
One last point: this event is about all
we have around us. I don’t care what your
personal beliefs are, whether you’re right
or left, pro or con, green or brown, brand
new or lived here all your life. Leave it at
home, come join us and have fun!
Ed Temple • 541-846-7769
Project Director
Applegate Valley Days
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Dear Editor,
We want to thank you for your in-depth, informative “The Starry Side” by Greeley Wells.
We can’t always figure out all the details from the instructions, but we have gained a great
amount of information that adds to our knowledge of the night sky. We continue to gaze up
at this unique corner of the universe we call home. Thank you for the research, insight and
personal comments. We look forward to reading what Greeley has to say in EVERY issue.
In appreciation,
Sherry Peterson and Peter Miller
Williams
