A8
News/From A1
wallowa.com
January 24, 2018
Wallowa County Chieftain
Forestry prof says corridor lawsuit has holes
Latest in a series
By Steve Tool
Wallowa County Chieftain
After both Oregon Wild
and the Greater Hells Can-
yon Council (formerly Hells
Canyon Preservation Council)
filed a lawsuit last May to halt
the Lostine Corridor Public
Safety Project, Oregon Wild
posted a list of “Frequently
Asked Questions” on its web-
site to provide grounds for the
suit.
The corridor project is a
U.S. Forest Service plan to
use both hand and mechanical
treatments to ostensibly mit-
igate wildfire in the area west
of Lostine, while the two activ-
ist groups claim it is a thin-
ly-veiled excuse to commer-
cially log the corridor.
Dr. James Johnston of Ore-
gon State University has an
extensive forestry background
that includes more than a
decade working for environ-
mental groups. His doctorate is
in forest science, and he wrote
a dissertation about historical
disturbance dynamics on the
Malheur National Forest along
with performing extensive sci-
ROADS
Continued from Page A1
Wallowa Mountain Loop, is
45 miles of paved winding
road on steep side slopes.
It connects the north-
ern leg of the Hells Canyon
Byway, Hwy. 82 from La
Grande to Joseph, with the
southern leg of the byway,
Hwy. 86, from Baker City
to Halfway and the Hells
Canyon and Brownlee
dams of the Snake River.
“We still have the hot-
plate on, but not as high as
we had it,” said Roberts.
Some new money allo-
cated to special infrastruc-
ture projects will also be
available from ODOT in
ence work for the Blue Moun-
tains Forest Partners, the local
collaborative group in John
Day.
Johnston gained an interest
in the corridor project after Jeff
Costello and Nils Christof-
fersen of Wallowa Resources
contacted him about the proj-
ect because of his previous
work. Johnston’s interests are
fire ecology, dendroecology,
which is the study of ecolog-
ical processes recorded in the
tree-ring record, and resto-
ration forestry, environmental
law and policy, and collabora-
tive governance.
After reading the FAQs,
Dr. Johnston concluded a
number of its assertions were
misleading.
The statement that only 10
percent of the proposed log-
ging addresses safety issues
was particularly troublesome.
“Oregon Wild’s math
does not compute,” he said.
“One-hundred percent of the
project is explicitly designed to
address safety issues. Oregon
Wild may believe that only 10
percent of the project is appro-
priate to address safety issues,
but that’s just their opinion.”
He added that the U.S.
Forest Service has consider-
the coming years. Whether
special projects will be
identified in Wallowa
County has not been deter-
mined, according to Tom
Strandberg, spokesman for
ODOT Region 5. ODOT
will be making those deci-
sions over the next four
years.
“A lot of the money is
going to go to preserva-
tion and maintenance,” said
Strandberg. “If you have a
project that is hot on your
mind, make sure it’s on the
county’s needs list. The first
place we look when we’re
allocating special project
money is the high prior-
ity projects on the county
plan.”
Past special projects
Oregon Wild badly misrepresents
the science. The one paper that they
cite clearly states that fuel reduction
thinning such as that planned for the
Lostine River Corridor is appropriate in
cases of unnaturally high fuel loading.
This is precisely the case in the Lostine
River Corridor.”
— Dr. James Johnston
Forestry expert, Oregon State University
able expertise in managing
fire and risks to human health
and property while stating that
Oregon Wild is not drawing
on any particular fire manage-
ment expertise. Johnston also
said he was not aware of any
expert in fire and fuel manage-
ment that endorses their claim
that only 10 percent of the
project addresses safety issues.
“In my opinion, when it
comes to public safety, we
ought to give agency experts
the benefit of the doubt unless
in Wallowa County have
included construction of the
Automated Weather Obser-
vation System and runway
restoration at Joseph State
Airport and the Commu-
nity Connection bus barn in
Enterprise.
Still on the list and
expected to be completed
this coming summer are the
$5.5 million Minam curve
and bank stabilization proj-
ect; the $1.8 million con-
struction of the bike path
from Joseph to the north
end of Wallowa Lake; and
the $900,000 Wallowa
River Bear Creek bridge
project.
The Minam and bike
path projects are expected
to go to bid this month.
there’s clear and convincing
reasons to question their con-
clusions,” he said.”
The professor also ques-
tioned FAQ statements that
the project will prioritize com-
mercially logging some of the
largest most fire-resistant trees
out of the forests over stands of
smaller trees that could benefit
from thinning, or that scientific
evidence indicates that logging
in that type of forest will not
decrease the severity of fire
but would likely increase fire
severity risk in the forest.
According to Johnston,
nothing in the administrative
record for this project or the
Forest Service’s communica-
tion with the public suggests
logging the largest and most
fire-resistant trees in the cor-
ridor. He said that 100 percent
of the proposed logging tar-
gets small fire- intolerant for-
est structure, and a huge body
of scientific evidence demon-
strates that removing those
trees can reduce fire severity
and make wildfires more man-
ageable and less of a threat.
“Oregon Wild badly mis-
represents the science,” John-
ston said. “The one paper that
they cite clearly states that
fuel reduction thinning such
as that planned for the Lostine
River Corridor is appropriate
in cases of unnaturally high
fuel loading. This is precisely
the case in the Lostine River
Corridor.”
Dr. Johnston also noted that
the Forest Service has docu-
mented that the corridor cur-
rently contains far more trees
than were present before fire
was excluded from the area at
the end of the 19th century.
“There are very high fuel
loadings that pose a signifi-
cant risk to old-growth for-
est structure,” Johnston said.
“Much of the old-growth larch
in the corridor has died or is
dying as result of competi-
tion-induced stress. Oregon
Wild presents zero evidence
that thinning will increase fire
severity. All of the available
evidence suggests that thin-
ning and prescribed fire will
reduce fire severity and protect
old growth.”
Another statement in the
FAQ gave Johnston pause:
“Not only will this project not
stop a fire, the proposed indus-
trial logging prioritizes many
of the most mature fire-resis-
tant stands in the canyon over
those that might benefit from
thinning.”
“The Forest Service is only
planning to treat 450 acres
within the corridor, which is
a tiny percentage of the total
land area and a tiny percentage
of the total area that probably
should be treated to reduce risk
of uncharacteristic insect, dis-
ease and fire effects,” he said.
Johnston added that all 450
acres of thinning is targeting
the most overgrown stands.
Next: The authors of the
FAQ documents will respond
to Johnston’s statements.
Oregon may join national
popular vote compact
By Paris Achen
Capital Bureau
A bill introduced in the
Legislature Monday would
enlist Oregon in the National
Popular Vote Compact con-
tingent on voter approval in
November.
By joining the compact,
states agree to cast their
Electoral College votes only
for presidential candidates
who win the national popu-
lar vote.
A national popular vote
would have changed the out-
come of the 2016 general
election, which put President
Donald Trump in office.
Since 2009, Senate Pres-
ident Peter Courtney has
blocked similar proposals
four times in Oregon. Last
year, the Salem Democrat
said he would support a bill
to join the compact, only if
the decision was endorsed by
Oregon voters.
“I would be open to ...
sending the question to
the ballot,” Courtney said
in May. “If you believe in
the popular vote, then let
the popular vote decide the
issue.”
More info and tickets at
FISHTRAP.ORG
Thanks to these and other fine sponsors:
or call 541.426.3623
February 16-18, 2018
Josephy Center for Arts and Culture
403 North Main Street, Joseph, Oregon
Winter Fishtrap Dinner
A Fundraiser for Fishtrap
Saturday, Feb. 17
Hurricane Creek Grange - 7pm