Wednesday,June2,2021
Columbia Gorge News
www.columbiagorgenews.com
COUGAR
Fighting fire with trust
Suit claims use of
hounds 'illegal'
Former adversaries
build trust, grow
consensus in forest
management
Continued from page 1
Mark Gibson
■ By Columbia
Gorge News
Timber burned in the
White River fire last summer
has been successfully sal-
vaged for lumber due in large
part to the work of the Wasco
County Forest Collaborative,
an advisory work group
focused on building rela-
tionships and trust among a
mixed group of forest users
and land owners working
with the Barlow Ranger
District of Mt. Hood National
Forest.
The White River area was
ignited Aug. 17, 2020, by a
lightning strike and subse-
quently burned 17,383 acres.
The salvage project involved
250 acres of burned timber
and involved a number of
collaborative agreements.
“We are one of only five
collaboratives, out of over 30
in Oregon, that have been
able to agree on salvage,
its been historically a very
controversial topic, and
we were able to thread the
needle and reach agreement,”
Andrew Spaeth, facilitator
for the collaborative, told
the Wasco County Board of
Commissioners in May. “I’m
really proud of the work we
have been able to do there.
It’s been a really strong and
collaborative effort, with over
250 areas of salvage agreed
to, representing the least
controversial areas. It’s an
exciting opportunity for the
collaborative.”
The collaborative has
been building its strength,
and trust, with several major
projects undertaken since it
formed in 2015 as an advisory
body to the Barlow Ranger
District. Members represent
a cross section of forest users
— loggers, tribes, ranchers,
environmentalists and recre-
ational users are represented.
It makes decisions based on
consensus vote of appointed
steering committee mem-
bers, in partnership with
Wasco County. Currently,
Commissioner Steve Kramer
works directly with the
commission.
“Where we are finding
strong agreement is in sci-
ence based management and
restoration that integrates
social values and has the sup-
port of a the public. We have
had no litigation on projects
so far,” Spaeth said.
The goal in creating the
collaborative was to work
together to address problems
created by 100 years of fire
suppression in the forest, and
address the challenges of a
changing climate “by working
together, building relation-
ships and trust between
former adversaries,” Spaeth
explained.
The success of the White
River salvage project was
built on the framework of
trust and common goals
worked out and tested with
three successful projects in
the district designed to create
a healthier forest and reduce
the risk of catastrophic wild-
fire, Spaeth said. The Rocky
Restoration Project and the
South Pen and Pollywog
Insect and Disease Projects,
accomplished the treatment
of more than 14,000 acres of
district land in Wasco County.
The projects emphasized
science-based and socially
supported projects.
“Wasco County has a lot
of dense forest conditions,
where fire suppression, past
management practices and
climate change are all really
going to wreak havoc, where a
wind-driven fire would result
in pretty high mortality,”
Spaeth said.
Heavy smoke from the White River fire obscures the hills behind this fire danger sign in front of the
Barlow Ranger District office in Dufur in August 2020. Below, a swath of red on a public information
map posted at Tygh Valley Market marks the growing boundaries of the fire.
Mark B. Gibson photo/file
Steering
Committee
Members
A video of the Wasco County Forest Collaborative presentation
to the Board of Commissioners is on the counties website, search
meetings and agendas.
could utilize slash from
thinning to create a fertilizer,
current practices focus on
firewood opportunities. “A lot
of areas within the projects,
there is opportunity for
firewood,” Spaeth noted. He
said one project, where the
thinning left a lot of downed
trees, those trees were left
for firewood. “That was
picked clean this last year,”
he said. “These projects will
create more opportunity for
firewood and fuel wood, all
these projects will provide
that. So will the White River
fire project, we can’t use all
the trees (for lumber). Some
will come down as a firewood
opportunity as well.”
Firewood cutting in the
National Forest is regulated
through a fee/permit system.
With fewer trees, and the
reduction in debris and
undergrowth, “this is really
setting the site up to be more
resilient to drought, disease
and wildfire,” Spaeth said. “A
fire now will have a benefi-
cial impact, and will make
fire suppression easier when
needed.”
Better management
Because the work above is
expensive, controlled burns
are seen as the best way to
manage the project areas
going forward. “We are trying
to address forest health,
understand the opportunities
and barriers to using fire as
a tool. Over time we want to
monitor effectiveness, where
will we be three or five years
out in terms of meeting the
goals of the projects.”
The collaborative, which
advises the Barlow Ranger
District, has the full support
of District Ranger Kameron
Sam. “I take shared steward-
ship really to heart. I want
to find the best approaches
to forest health, managing
water and fire and provid-
ing recreation for everyone.
Shared stewardship is really
Forest treatment
a big part of that.”
A lot of the ideas un-
Projects begin with me-
derway to better manage
chanical “mastication” of
National Forest lands have
brush, which literally chews
come from the collaborative,
down the undergrowth. “It
he said. “Multiple agency
clears out the forest a bit,
coordination, good neighbor
and increases habitat and
authority, letting others do
forage for wildlife,” Spaeth
explained. “It comes back
work on the national forest,
paying the state for hand
quickly, and there is a lot of
wildlife use.”
thinning, prescribed fire,
that’s all new, and is working
In sensitive areas, like
irrigation ditches, crews clear very well.”
some of the brush by hand.
The forest, he explained,
“It has a lighter touch,” Spaeth knows no boundaries be-
explained.
tween federal, state, county
After that, crews hand thin or private management.
the trees. Trees are dropped
“The collaborative is a big
on site, then machines are
part of helping us bridge the
used to remove them.
gaps between agencies and
Although there is some
landowners,” Sam said.
discussion of using slash
The South Pen project,
and trees as “biochar,” which west of Dufur, was one of
"Wehavehadno
litigationonprojects
sofar.”
Andrew Spaeth, facilitator
Wasco County Forest Colaborative
the first done in that wild/
urban interface area under a
shared stewardship model,
and following its success the
district was “able to show
we are a good investment,
and are improving the forest
health,” he said. As a result,
the district has received Joint
Chiefs Award funds for these
and future projects. “The
great work we already have
done, and the stewardship
collaborations we have al-
ready set up, are making us a
good investment for the funds
we receive. We don’t have
enough resources, but we are
moving closer to that.
“The things we have done
so far has been really, really
great. I look forward to build-
ing on it. The work we are
doing here is really positive,
and we will get the resources
we need over time to do the
work on the ground.”
Moving forward
Wasco County
Commissioner Kathy
Schwartz said she was
impressed by the work of
the collaborative. “Building
relationships between tradi-
tionally adversarial groups,
that is just great. And with no
litigation, that is completely
amazing.”
Tribal — Bob Sjolund,
Confederated Tribes of
Warm Springs
Community
Wildfire Protection —
Kristin Dodd, Oregon
Department of Forestry
State Agency —
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife
Private Landowner
— Larry Magill, Wamic
Rural Fire District
Water Resources —
Pat Davis, White River
Watershed Council
Recreation and
Tourism — Kathy Long,
NOMAC
Local Government
— Ryan Bessette, Wasco
County Soil and Water
Conservation District
Environmental —
Brenna Bell, Bark
Forest Products
— Jeremy Grose, SDS
Lumber Co.
At-Large — Rich
Thurman, Retired
Wildlife Biologist
At-Large — John
Nelson, School District
21 Board Member
response and has the
authority of the sheriff to
invoke the appropriate ac-
tion, under (Revised Code of
Washington) 77.15.245 (2) by
using hound dogs in tracking
down and euthanizing the
dangerous animal,” Songer
wrote in the post.
The post noted, “The
Klickitat County Sheriff’s
Office will work closely
with Washington State
Department of Fish and
Wildlife (WDFW) in carrying
out this program. However,
the Sheriff Office will be in
charge of the program.”
The civil complaint, filed
May 17 in Benton County
Superior Court and obtained
by Columbia Gorge News,
alleges Songer and the
county violated state law by
“illegally killing cougars with
the use of hounds.”
The complaint also alleges
Songer has not reported to
WDFW all of the cougars
he and the seven hound
hunters deployed under the
140-member volunteer sher-
iff’s posse have killed since
the creation of the program,
and that some of the cougars
dispatched under the pro-
gram “did not injure or kill
any livestock or demonstrate
any threat to human safety.”
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit,
county residents Abigail
Spring and David Berger,
retained the services of
Bellingham-based animal
law attorney Adam P. Karp,
who asserted that the clause
cited by Songer does not
grant the sheriff, his deputies
or members of the civilian
posse the authority to both
hunt cougars with hounds
and implement the DWPP.
"The flaw in the Sheriff's
position is that he embraces
a prohibitory piece of legis-
lation passed by initiative in
1996 as if it were a positive
grant of authority," Karp
wrote in an email, citing vot-
er-approved Initiative 655,
which outlawed the hunting
of cougars with dogs in the
state of Washington with
limited exceptions for “em-
ployees or agents of county,
state, or federal agencies
while acting in their official
capacities” in situations to
"(protect) livestock, domes-
tic animals, private property,
or the public safety."
"As the State has not
expressly given the Sheriff
authority to hunt with
hounds, he lacks any legal
justification for his own such
conduct, and cannot dele-
gate such non-authority to
anyone else," Karp said.
The lawsuit seeks a decla-
ration by the court that the
agency's use of hounds to
hunt cougars is unconstitu-
tional, as well as a judgment
stripping the civilian posse
of any credentials to hunt
cougars with the use of
hounds or other means.
It also seeks a judgment by
the court barring the sheriff’s
office from killing cougars
damaging property without
authorization from WDFW.
The plaintiffs, according
to the complaint, argue the
program has resulted in the
euthanizing of at least 16
cougars between August
2019 and July 2020.
Songer declined to com-
ment, citing the ongoing
nature of the litigation.
The case is still pend-
ing under Benton County
Superior Court, County
Clerk Josie Delvin said.
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Commissioner Scott Hege
agreed, and said, “I’m really
happy we are going to be
able to see harvest some of
the burned timber from the
White River fire, that is really
exciting to see.”
Sam noted investment
in the forest will need to
continue over the long term.
“We will need prescribed
fire every five years in some
areas, just to keep that brush
down,” he explained. “If the
brush is to high, a wildfire
will get too hot and firefight-
ers can’t go in. It gets too hot
to fight.” The goal in regards
to fire, he said, is to have
buffers and defensible space
throughout the forest.
Social acceptance plays
a big role, Sam added, and
the collaborative is playing
an important role in that.
“The collaborative group is
where we can talk it out, talk
about the issues. We can
understand where we have
buy in and where we don’t.
That has an impact on what
we can do, and we can plan
projects according to that.”
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TRASH TALK
Q. Can I recycle my plastic shopping
QA
3
bags in the blue bin? Dan, Parkdale
A. Dan, Great question. Please don’t put plastic
bags in your recycling. Bags cause major problems with
machinery at the recycling facility in Portland. Good news
though- Return plastic bags and film packaging (if clean
and dry) to your supermarket. That includes bags that cover
produce, bread, paper towels, drycleaning, and case wraps.
questions to:
(541)-506-2636 www.tricountyrecycle.com