leave legacy trees. They create habitat such as snags,
which are often missing in plantation ecosystems, and
use existing skid trails and roads whenever possible to
minimize their impact on the forest soil.
“It’s still active management,” Miller explains. “But
we’re growing older, more varied forests and keeping
reserve areas with more habitat. You can both generate
income and protect important features of the forest.”
Sales of timber from the city-owned property help
pay for other projects like habitat enhancement. Trout
Mountain’s plan for Corvallis has a 50-year outlook and,
according to Miller, will see an increase in the timber on
the property that can be harvested without diminishing
other management objectives.
PETER HAYES AT THE
CONTROLS OF THE
MILL AT HYLA WOODS
WORTH MORE THAN WOOD
“My dad instilled in me that you should be able to eat
the fish out of your river and swim in your river,” Paul
Engelmeyer says. Engelmeyer, who has a thick walrus-
like mustache and wavy gray hair, lives in Yachats and
focuses his conservation work in communities on the
Oregon Coast. He works with conservation partners like
the Audubon Society and the Siuslaw National Forest to
connect landowners with opportunities to protect healthy
forests.
Engelmeyer says easements and acquisitions are a new
tool to help landowners preserve their forests. By tapping
into different funding pots, including habitat funds from
the Bonneville Power Administration, federal endangered
species funds, gambling revenues and taxes on oil
extraction, Engelmeyer can help people get compensated
for preserving forestland.
“It’s a big pile of money and people aren’t hip to it,”
Engelmeyer says. He says his work is gaining traction
because “there’s a mindset change where people are
dedicated to the land, not just using it to make a living.”
Strategies to protect forests for their habitat and impact
on water quality also extend to municipalities. Unlike
Corvallis, which owns much of the forest in its watershed,
Eugene has little say in how the forests in its watershed
are managed.
In order to promote stewardship that keeps water
clean and treatment costs down, Eugene Water and
Electric Board and the McKenzie River Trust work with
landowners to set up conservation easements and recruit
“clean water partners.” The program connects landowners
with resources and incentives to protect habitat and water
resources.
“It’s hard to look at and quantify what the forest
provides besides timber,” says Karl Morgenstern, the
source water protection coordinator for EWEB. “Healthy
forests reduce the costs of water treatment.”
By incentivizing landowners to either keep their
watershed intact or restore degraded watersheds, the
program works to keep down costs associated with
treating water.
Natural resource economist Ernie Niemi says,
“When you have abundance and you diminish supply,
consequences are minimal.” He says that because we don’t
PHOTO COURTESY PETER HAYES
typically think of forest goods like fish, habitat and clean
water in economic terms it’s harder to understand the role
they play in the economy. “The challenge is understanding
the trade-off and making it.”
For Niemi, branding and marketing activities such
as those embraced by Zena Forest Products and Hyla
Woods are a good start, but are limited in their ability to
restructure the market.
He sees a market intervention as having more potential
to transform the forest products industry.
“We can create markets that would create movement
towards positive outcomes,” Niemi says. A tax on carbon
polluters that funds green initiatives like conserving
forests could compensate forest owners for responsible
management, he adds. “Money communicates clearly in a
message that can be heard.”
John Talberth, president and founder of the Center for
Sustainable Economy (CSE), says that carbon markets are
“small potatoes” in their impact on the forestry industry.
He says a more direct forest carbon tax and reward
legislation could transform the timber industry and benefit
both rural economies and the environment.
Talberth says that research from CSE and data from
the Oregon Global Warming Commission shows the
forestry industry is the number one emitter of greenhouse
gases in the state. He says the argument that forestry is
carbon neutral is built on a fallacy that gives the industry
credit for carbon capture on public and small forest owner
lands and fails to address the deforestation and emissions
generated by industrial forestry.
“What we really need is to reform forest laws to make
carbon-smart forests,” Talberth says. He proposes taxing
the forestry industry for the emissions and carbon capture
reductions they are responsible for and investing the
money from that tax into more sustainable and diverse
forestry models.
Cutting on a smaller scale and managing for diversity
is more labor intensive than industrial clearcuts and
would create more jobs in rural communities, he says.
“Oregon would be investing in a highly skilled workforce
that knows how to cut for timber and leave a climate smart
forest.” Because other countries are interested in fighting
climate change through smarter forestry, “Oregon could
be a leader in spreading this technology,” Talberth says.
A FOREST FOR THE FUTURE
Healthy forests can provide a wide range of economic
and ecological values. Businesses such as Zena Forest
Products, Hyla Woods and Trout Mountain Forestry are
working to create forestry models that value forests for
more than timber, while economists and conservationists
figure out how to make those models economically and
ecologically feasible.
The natural forests of Oregon’s Coast Range are among
the most important ecosystems for trapping carbon and
muting the effects of climate change. In a state with a
growing population and burgeoning tourism industry, the
value of forests for clean and cold water and as places to
recreate continues to grow. Forestry that produces timber
while increasing biomass and habitat can create more
jobs because it requires a more hands on process than
clearcutting.
Zena’s Ben Deumling, a fifth-generation Oregonian,
says we need to slow down our thinking and take a longer
view of the value of forests. He calls the industrial model
of short tree rotations “a race to the bottom of how fast can
we grow small trees.”
“We’re shifting that and trying to stretch that back out
again to grow big high quality trees that not only make
really high quality lumber — but also build diverse forests
with old trees and young trees.”
“It is a labor of love but hopefully a labor of love that
will continue to be appreciated and worked with for future
generations,” Deumling says. “I feel a lot of pride in being
from Oregon, and hopefully I can help continue that
legacy.” ■
EWALK S A L E 6th
SI d D
.
, Au g
e nesday, Aug. 2n
W
d thru Sunday
Big bargains on
Pink Wheels,
Tianello, Dressori,
Italian linens and
lots of summer
merchandise!
Sale starts at
10 a.m.
*This coupon must be presented to receive
discount. Coupon applies to in-stock merchandise
only, including sale items. Cannot be used on
special customer orders, consignment merchandise,
layaway pick-ups, gift certificates, or be applied
retroactively for refunds on prior purchases. Limited
to one coupon per customer per day. One coupon
only per transaction. Coupon expires 8/31/17.
Bring in
this coupon* for
18th and
Willamette
Meridian Building
541-431-3411
$5 off
any purchase of $10 or
more. Valid Aug. 2017
eugeneweekly.com • A ugust 3, 2017
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