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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (May 10, 2017)
News Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, May 10, 2017 International Policy Analyst and seminar organizer Aysha Ghadiali speaks to land management experts from 11 different countries during a meeting at the Forest Service building in John Day. COLLABORATIVE program, the forest could receive the addi- tional funding for a total of 10 years, and the projects must work through collaboratives. Continued from Page A1 Webb said, while most of the federal fund- In 2012, the collaborative reorganized ing goes directly to restoration projects, the from an informal working group to a 501(c) collaborative has received about $45,000 per (3) nonprofit organization. As such, several year, which it spends on scientific analysis and monitoring. Except for years of its federal tax return and state charity registra- that amount and the Title II tion are public records. In grants, he said the collab- 2016, the collaborative re- orative receives no federal funding. ported $160,669 in revenue While the Forest Service and $182,022 in expenses, is required to work with though grants are expected collaboratives, the Forest to cover the losses. The only Service has no control or paid employee, Webb’s sal- authority over nonprofit or- ary is about $66,000. Webb ganizations, such as the col- said other expenses include laborative. Similarly, Webb general overhead and travel, said, the collaborative has as well as ecological, so- no authority over the For- cioeconomic and efficiency est Service, and none of the studies. collaborative work results in The nonprofit receives binding agreements. He said funding from the Oregon the collaborative offers pro- Department of Forestry, pri- posals for a broad range of vate foundations, private do- treatments less likely to be nors and competitive Title II This kind of litigated because of the par- Secure Rural Schools grant involvement ticipation of various groups, funding, he said. but the Forest Service does The organization part- honestly not always follow them. nered with the Harney engaged in Webb said the collabora- County Restoration Col- tive process has been diffi- laborative and the Malheur is the best cult at times — with parties National Forest in 2012 to who were previously at odds apply for the federal Col- way for local in lawsuits sitting down laborative Forest Landscape communities at the same table to work Restoration program, which through issues — but by de- was approved. From 2012- to have a say veloping trust and engaging 2015, this program award- in federal land on the issues, it has been ed $2.5 million annually to successful. the Malheur, in addition to management.” “This kind of involve- previous budget allocations, Mark Webb ment honestly engaged in is for restoration projects that Executive director of Blue the best way for local com- also required local matching Mountains Forest Partners munities to have a say in for a total of $5 million. In federal land management,” 2015, the collaborative re- Webb said. “But for this col- ported supporting 244 direct part- and full-time jobs with a direct labor in- laborative, you wouldn’t have that (federal) CFLRP money and the jobs that come with come of $14,616,142. In 2016, an expansion to the boundaries it, you wouldn’t have an operating mill in of the program was approved, and the award Grant County, you wouldn’t have 75 million amount was increased to the maximum award board feet in timber harvest, which is three of $4 million for a total of $8 million after times what it was when we started, and de- the match. The annual report has not been spite what’s been said, you wouldn’t have as healthy of forests. Nothing would be happen- released. As long as Congress continues to fund the ing here without this effort.” “ EXPERTS Continued from Page A1 International Union for the Conservation of Nature. The three-day portion of the seminar held in Grant County focused on collabora- tive efforts to restore parts of the national forest. Tito Prabadi, who works for the U.S. international program in Indonesia, said the Aceh Province where he works has a similar climate, though an entirely different set of problems. A main con- cern for foresters in Prabadi’s country is the harvest of palm oil, which has a wide variety of culinary uses. Farmers of- ten forgo the government’s complex permitting system and use unsustainable prac- tices to produce the product, according to Prabadi. He said collaboration with communities and private companies, one of the focus- es of the seminar, could be an effective way to combat land misuse. One major difference he noted was in Indonesia forest thinning could be quite prof- itable due to the lower cost of Eagle photos/Rylan Boggs Vijay Kumar grins during a tour, May 4, of the Camp Creek restoration project on the Malheur National Forest. labor and higher timber value. He said some workers in some regions were paid as little as 10 cents an hour. Prabadi has been to the U.S. before but never to Oregon. He said he’s been surprised by how friendly the people are and finds it amusing that when taking a selfie, locals will often come up and ask him if he would like help taking a picture. During the seminar, Blue Mountain District Ranger Dave Halemeier provided visitors with a brief overview of the Let our family of Pharmacists serve you! organization of the Forest Ser- vice, the local dynamics and the benefits of collaboration. He and other staff empha- sized the interconnection of the different systems, giving an example of how a lack of large cottonwood trees could reduce shade, raise water temperatures and cause mass die-offs of fish. Malheur National Forest Supervisor Steve Beverlin called the seminar “one of the highlights of our year.” “The diversity you bring to our county is wonderful,” he said. The group toured the Camp Creek restoration project near Magone Lake and saw the ef- fects of restoration on the forest firsthand. They learned about in- dicator species, such as the bea- ver, which give insight into the overall health of an ecosystem. “One of the things that’s great about being in Oregon is this state’s a leader in forest landscape restoration, and so there are so many lessons to be learned here,” Internation- al Policy Analyst and seminar organizer Aysha Ghadiali said. “It’s a leader not because it’s perfect and everything went easy, but it’s a leader because there’s conflict, competing in- terest and different land values at play, and they found way to work together and work collab- oratively.” Ghadiali said the trip was a “two-way street,” sharing land management knowledge and fostering international cooper- ation. “Environment doesn’t un- derstand political boundaries,” she said. “Forests don’t stop at the border.” Give us a call today 541-676-9158 - Heppner 541-384-2801 - Condon On Mother’s Day Trees • Shrubs • Hanging Baskets • Bedding Plants • Veg Starts • Perennials We welcome the opportunity to visit with you about our services! 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