BY DONALD FONTENOT
Cascadia Forest Alliance

There have been many rumors and accusations revolving around Gods Valley and what those "darn environmentalists" are up to in the Tillamook/Clatsop State Forests. Without getting into the "he said, she said" argument, (let the courts figure that out) I am writing to share a few
thoughts regarding what I see as the major problems with Oregon Department of Forestry's (ODF) management of our state lands and to offer a few reasonable solutions. 

I spend a great deal of time in our state forest talking with residents, including parents, loggers, teachers and foresters. I teach concerned citizens how to groundtruth timber sales by checking sale boundaries, slope stability, stream buffers, etc. I encourage them to share what they discover with their community and the foresters who are responsible for planning these sales. I
post what we find on the Web site www.cascadiaforestalliance.org and also share these concerns with the Oregon Board of Forestry and encourage them and all Oregonians to get out into the Tillamook and see for themselves the results of ODF's management. 

The most common problem is that timber sale boundary buffers are too close to streams. 

The best way to protect streams is to leave a "buffer" of trees that remains uncut. Buffers provide shade, stop erosion, and provide large wood essential to fish and stream health. ODF has buffers that aren't much better than those on private lands. Most small year-round streams on state lands get no protection for 25 percent of their length, and only 25 feet for the other 75 per cent. In contrast, federal lands provide over 200 feet for such streams for their entire length. 

In addition, timber sale boundaries are often placed near streams on very steep slopes which force loggers into the dangerous position of having to "back trees out" of riparian management areas. This is both hazardous for tree fellers and for the fish that have to deal with the resulting mud and debris flow that choke their spawning grounds and water filters of residents
downstream. A very simple short-term solution would be to apply federal standards to state lands.

Other on-the-ground problems include the size of allowed clearcuts, (up to 120 acres) and their position on steep slopes. ODF is clearcutting on slopes as steep as 70% — sometimes directly upslope of streams identified by Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife as core areas for threatened salmon. An immediate solution would be to limit clearcutting to diseased plantations of no more than 40 acres (like on National Forest) and not to clearcut on slopes greater than 50 percent.

The biggest problem with the ODF's management is that there are absolutely no reserve areas.

All of the publicly owned Tillamook and Clatsop State Forest will be logged over time!  There aren't many older trees in the North Coast Range that have survived heavy logging and big fires.  Those few that remain need protection. 

This is the heart of the problem that has resulted in the controversy in Gods Valley. Some areas should not be "actively managed." The older forest stands in Gods Valley that are habitat for northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, and other sensitive species, should be left alone. 

Currently, the Acey Line timber sale in Gods Valley is being actively managed (logged) in the name of letting sunshine in to create wildlife habitat, when in reality it is simply a way to log it.  The argument is not over whether trees will grow faster when allowed more sunlight, it is whether or not we should use the last 1 percent of our older, mature forest for timber production. 

I and many other Oregonians feel we should not, and have testified so.

These solutions are reasonable and straightforward and can be accomplished while maintaining a steady supply of timber based on historic 1990-1999 levels. Immediately adopting these common-sense recommendations would prevent what is happening in sensitive areas like Gods Valley and at the same time protect habitat and maintain clean drinking water for Oregonians.

Implementing these solutions in the short term would provide ODF time to experiment without endangering the last of our older forest and the threatened species that depend on them. It is not acceptable to lose them forever.

Donald Fontenot
Portland

Donald Fontenot is a veteran of Desert Storm and a registered nurse.  Recently, he quit his job to volunteer full time on state land issues. He was one of the 20 people recently arrested protesting the logging of Gods Valley.