Page 6
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Bipartisan letter requests briefing on administration’s WOPR plans
U.S. Rep. Greg Walden
(R-Ore.) wants to know how
the Obama administration
plans to manage Oregon’s
west-side forests, including
BLM-managed forests in
Josephine, Jackson, and
Klamath counties.
In a bipartisan letter also
signed by U.S. Reps. Peter
DeFazio (D-Ore.) and Kurt
Schrader (D-Ore.); and Sens.
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Jeff
Merkley (D-Ore.), Walden
asked Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar for a briefing on
the administration’s plans to
replace the Western Oregon
Plan Revisions — or WOPR
— which BLM adopted in
2008 to manage 2.1 million
acres of federal land in west-
ern Oregon.
In July 2009, the Obama
administration withdrew
WOPR. In October, BLM
unveiled a short-term strategy
that it said would supply the
timber needs of area mills and
forest product manufacturers.
Instead, said Walden, this
plan shifted the focus of the
management to thinning pro-
jects on younger forests pre-
dominantly in the northwest-
ern Oregon BLM districts.
This reduced the timber vol-
ume available for S.W. Ore-
gon’s Medford and Roseburg
BLM districts.
“We need to put people
back to work, period,” Wal-
den said. “We can’t start do-
ing that in the forests of
Southern Oregon until there
is an immediate refocus of the
short-term plan. Oregonians
want a balance that will allow
them to once again do the
work in the woods to keep the
forests healthy and also help
turn local economies around.
“Right now, the federal
government has no plan to
manage these forests ade-
quately in the short term or
long term. We need to know
what’s in the works.”
Added David Schott,
executive director of the
Southern Oregon Timber
Industries Association: “We
just need to put people back
to work and get our local
economies back on track.
“It's a win-win situation
when we can create jobs and
protect our forests from catas-
trophic fire through careful
and professional management
practices. We appreciate Rep.
Walden’s leadership over the
years on behalf of the health
of our forests and the jobs and
quality of life that healthy
forests support.
“I hope that this biparti-
san effort can spur some ac-
tion on the federal level to get
a plan in place to manage our
forests in a sustainable way
once again.”
The 2.6 million acres of
Oregon forestland managed
by BLM in western Oregon
grow 1.2 billion board feet of
timber each year.
“While we appreciate the
outreach and efforts to ad-
dress the individual concerns
throughout the past few
months since the withdrawal
of WOPR, we strongly feel
that a direct delegation sit-
down meeting with you is
necessary,” the five lawmak-
ers wrote in the bipartisan
letter to Salazar.
For nearly a century, the
economic vitality of western
Oregon has been intrinsically
linked to federal government
management of BLM land.
“As evidenced by a de-
cline in timber volume pro-
duced, the BLM appears to be
unable to offer an adequate
and sustainable timber supply
throughout much of Western
Oregon,” the bipartisan letter
said. “This is particularly
evident in the Medford and
Roseburg BLM districts,
where harvest levels are far
below those forecast under
the Northwest Forest Plan.”
Walden, DeFazio,
Schrader, Wyden, and Merk-
ley also noted in the letter that
Oregonians want a balanced
approach in place that pro-
duces sustainable timber,
protects endangered species,
reduces hazardous fuels, and
ensures that the forests re-
main healthy for future gen-
eration.
“The Association of
O&C Counties appreciates
the bipartisan effort of mem-
bers of Oregon’s congres-
sional delegation to find a
balance between environ-
mental protection, job crea-
tion and community stabil-
ity,” said Rocky McVay, ex-
ecutive director of the Asso-
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Oregon region. Multiple lum-
ber mills hummed with the
sounds of timber production.
But as the ‘80s wore on,
the timber industry began its
decline, and those mills
started shutting down, one at
a time. Thinning projects and
other related forestry work
also dwindled, forcing Hirn-
ing and many others to de-
velop new skills. Hirning
became a plumber, an occu-
pation he continues to this
day as Country Plumbing.
A major forest fire in
1987, the Longwood Com-
plex, forced many Takilma
residents back into the woods,
and evacuation of most of the
community. Hirning said that
a crew was formed, and its
members worked alongside
personnel from Rough &
Ready Lumber Co. to combat
the blaze.
U.S. Army troops from
Fort Ord in California also
were sent to help fight fire.
Some slopes leading to
the fire were at 40-degree
angles, Hirning said, and the
Rough & Ready crews util-
ized the Takilma group’s
knowledge of the area to
place their equipment where
it would do the most good.
By the time it was over,
Hirning said, only one struc-
ture was lost to wildfire dam-
age. He still credits the Rough
& Ready crew for its efforts
in that historic firefight.
“Those guys were real
heroes. They could have got-
ten burned up,” Hirning said.
“They depended on us. They
knew they couldn’t get out to
where they had to and de-
pended on us for directions. It
was a very stirring moment,
and a very important time.”
Tolerance Can Lead
to Love
These days, Hirning said,
he jokes about the early days
with some of the same people
who used to harass him when
he first came to town.
“We talk about those
times and laugh,” he said.
He said that the initial
barriers between those who
settled in Takilma in the early
‘70s, and those who already
were living in the area, began
to disappear when their chil-
dren began attending school
classes together.
“They couldn’t tell who
was a hippie and who
wasn’t,” Hirning said.
Now, Hirning, Kline,
Kauffman and some of
Takilma’s elders have had
ample opportunity to reflect
on the legacy they’ve created
for their community. And
they’re proud of what they’ve
done through the years.
“It’s a really interesting
community,” observed Kauff-
man. “Everybody kind of
looks out for one another. I
think the people in Takilma
are sort of tolerant of one
another.
“Maybe peace and love
are too much to hope for, but
that can grow out of toler-
ance,” Kauffman said.
“Everybody here is commit-
ted to getting along. There’s
at least that much of the peace
and love thing still alive
here.”
What the Future Holds
There is some uncer-
tainty among Takilma’s eld-
ers as to whether the lessons
they learned will be passed to
the next generation.
“The problem I see is
that those of us who initiated
of volume produced off O&C
land, the development of new
resource management plans
as a way to add economic
certainty for local communi-
ties is also of great impor-
tance.
While we appreciate the
outreach and efforts to ad-
dress the individual concerns
throughout the past few
months since the withdrawal
of the Western Oregon Plan
Revisions (WOPR), we
strongly feel that a direct
delegation sit-down meeting
with you is necessary.”
Drugs deaths down during 2009
Although there was a rise
in heroin-related deaths dur-
ing 2009, the total number of
drug-related deaths de-
creased, including Josephine
County, according to the Ore-
gon State Medical Exam-
iner’s Office.
Medical Examiner Dr.
Karen Gunson released 2009
drug-related death statistics
showing a 7 percent drop
from 2008 numbers.
Josephine County de-
creased from seven (2008) to
four (2009).
The statistics did show
an increase in heroin-related
deaths, the highest since
Takilma’s counter-cultural legacy, future
(Continued from page 1)
hepatitis outbreak had hit
Takilma, with more than 200
people affected. Word of the
crisis eventually reached state
officials, who sent a two-
person medical team consist-
ing of Dr. Jim Shames, physi-
cian; and Michael Garnier,
who had military medical
experience.
Both men stayed in
Takilma afterward. Garnier
now is the owner of the Out
‘N’ About Treehouse Resort.
Shames, instrumental in
founding the Takilma Peo-
ple’s Clinic, now is involved
in the medical field in Jack-
son County.
Hirning said that the
county’s refusal to help alle-
viate the health situation also
helped bring about the
Takilma People’s Clinic,
which over time morphed
into the current Siskiyou
Community Health Center.
That era also saw the
establishment of the Takilma
Community Association. A
food co-operative later was
formed, as Takilma residents
learned to combine their indi-
vidual efforts and start taking
care of each other.
“We had to learn about
how to do things together,”
Hirning said. “The commu-
nity is pretty cohesive.”
The Times They
Are a’ Changin’
Heading into the 1980s, a
Takilma-based forestry co-op
had planted hundreds of trees
throughout the Southwest
ciation of O&C Counties.
“We need action now to
get jobs back in Oregon’s
forested communities.”
The letter states in part:
“We are requesting a
delegation meeting in the
immediate future to get an
update on what actions the
Dept. of Interior is taking to
address the factors which
limit the planning and imple-
mentation of forest manage-
ment projects on the Oregon
& California Grant lands in
Western Oregon.
“Coupled with the lack
all those organizations are
growing older,” Kline said.
“There’s not as much fill-in
from younger people as I’d
like. There are quite a few,
but I’d like to see some more
input. There are some people
coming along.”
Rachel Goodman has
lived in Takilma for nearly 30
years. She enjoys the camara-
derie with her neighbors and
the “relative lack of traffic,”
and is optimistic that
Takilma’s traditions will be
carried on.
“People my age, for a
while, were wondering if it
would all die out,” said
Goodman, a practicing li-
censed massaged therapist.
“But we actually have a new
group of 20- and 30-year-olds
who seem to want the rural
lifestyle.”
The cabin that Hirning
bought when he first came to
Takilma is still around. In
fact, it houses his plumbing
business.
Hirning said that one of
his favorite activities is run-
ning, and he’s been doing it
for around 30 years. Every
morning when he starts his
jog, he stares at the snow-
capped Siskiyou Mountains
nearby, and becomes filled
with gratitude to have ended
up in “paradise,” exactly as it
was described to Kauffman
decades earlier.
He also thinks about the
relationships he’s built during
that time, which reaffirms his
commitment to stay exactly
where he is.
“I know and love these
people as my family here,”
Hirning said. “I consider this
the most wonderful place in
the world.”
2000, and decreases in deaths
contributed to cocaine,
methamphetamine, and com-
bination of drug use.
“Any feelings of encour-
agement by the 7 percent
drop from last year are tem-
pered by the fact that we still
matched the second-highest
number since 1999, said
Gunson. “The reality is that
these are real people, nearly
2,500 since 1998, whose lives
were cut short because of
drug use.”
State Medical Examiner
statistics indicate that 213
people died in Oregon last
year from the use of heroin,
cocaine, methamphetamine,
or a combination use of those
drugs. After rising two years
ago to the highest level since
1999, last year’s number
matched 2006 drug-related
deaths which was the second
highest level during the past
10 years.
A look at the 213 illicit
drug-related deaths and the
frequency of use in the total
number of these deaths re-
flected:
*Heroin use was the
highest number with 127
deaths, an increase from 119
deaths in 2008 and the high-
est since 2000.
*Meth use was the sec-
ond highest with 87 deaths
(nearly a 20 percent drop
from 106 deaths recorded in
2008), but still the third-
highest number since 1998.
*Cocaine use was related
to 32 deaths, nearly half the
number of these drug-related
deaths in 2006 (64) and the
fewest recorded since 1998.
*Combination of drug
use was related to 35 deaths,
more than 20 percent less
than last year when there
were 46 recorded deaths.
Counties that showed
increases in total drug-related
deaths in comparison to 2008
included:
*Clackamas County,
nine (2008) to 15 (2009).
*Lane County, 21 (2008)
to 33 (2009).
*Washington County, 12
(2008) to 15 (2009).
*Polk County had three
drug-related deaths, all from
heroin, after none in 2008.
Besides Josephine, coun-
ties that showed decreases
included:
*Multnomah County,
106 (2008) to 94 (2009).
*Marion County, 22
(2008) to 13 (2009).
*Deschutes County six
(2008) to two (2009)
The 2009 statistical re-
view is available at
www.oregon.gov/OSP/SME/
docs/Drug_Related_Death_
Report_2009.pdf
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Illinois Valley residents. He
added that there is a “real
wave of enthusiasm” for the
museum project. He added
that other groups and volun-
teers also want to aid in the
process.
And interest has been
expressed for establishing a
Civil Air Patrol branch on the
site, Brandt said.
After the meeting, he
praised Cassanelli for her
work in bringing about the
lease. Brandt said that in five
years, people will talk about
the museum the same way
they do the Oregon Caves
National Monument.
Also signed was a five-
year lease between the county
and the Kerby Union High
School Commemorative Park
Association.
Signed on Friday, May
14, the lease provides the
association with exclusive use
of a 120-by-100-foot parcel
of land on the corner of the
county public works mainte-
nance yard at 24253 Red-
wood Hwy. in Kerby, imme-
diately adjacent to the RCC
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Under terms of the lease,
the association must pay $1
yearly rent to the county, as
well as all property taxes and
utility expenses.
No open containers of
alcohol will be allowed on the
site, and the lease agreement
can be terminated at any time
upon mutual consent of both
parties.
The association is al-
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any plans must be submitted
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