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
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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.”
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