releases: https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/after-forestry-summit-greg-walden-urges-forest-service-heed-input-local
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/after-forestry-summit-greg-walden-urges-forest-service-heed-input-local | After forestry summit, Greg Walden urges Forest Service to heed input from local communities | 2014-11-10 | 2014 | 2014-11 | Republican | House | OR | Greg Walden | W000791 | walden.house.gov | legacy | After forestry summit, Greg Walden urges Forest Service to heed input from local communities WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River) has written to U.S. Forest Service Region 6 Forester Jim Pea urging him to extend the public review period of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest's (WWNF) Existing Condition Road Maps and heed input from local communities on the Blue MountainsForest Plan Revision. In October, Walden convened a forestry summit in La Grande with Pea to discuss the management practices needed to create rural jobs, maintain access, and restore forest health. This letter is a follow up to the concerns raised by participants at that meeting. Click here for the full letter. At the summit, questions were raised aboutthe substantial impact the forest plan revision and other Forest Service decisions have on motorized access. In eastern Oregon, accessing our forests is a way of life, whether for huckleberry picking, mining, firewood cutting, hunting, or just going for a ride through the woods. Local communities are most affected by these regulations and their needs and inputmust be at the forefront of the decision making process. Regional Forester Peaheard loud and clear from local residents who are tired of their input being overlooked, Walden said. In his letter to the Regional Forester, Walden reiterated the request he made at the meeting for a 90 day extension of the public review period of the WWNF Existing Condition Road Maps in order to allow the public sufficient time to fully access and assess the documents. At the meeting, participants also expressed frustration over the decline in jobs in the region tied to the forests. In 1990, 680 million board feet was harvested in eastern Oregon's forests. Last year, just 71 million board feet was harvested. And in that time, about 4,700 mill jobs in northeastern Oregon have disappeared. The decline in timber harvests on federal land has significantly harmed these communities as well, while our forests have become overgrown, disease infested and subject to catastrophic fires. Certainty in timber supply is integral to local job creation and maintaining the mill infrastructure needed to effectively treat our forests. Yet as we heard from county commissioners and others in attendance last month, the Blue Mountains Forest Plan Revision falls far short of what's needed. We should be planning for success, not failure. I hope that you will not just push forward with the plan as written, but rather work with the local communities to find a path forward on the forest plan that can help bring healthy forests and healthy communities back to northeast Oregon, Walden wrote in the letter. Industry estimates have found that they need about 335 million board feet from the Blue Mountain National Forests for a sustained operating level. Yet the proposed Blue MountainsForest Plan produces just 100 million board feet. As Walden said at the meeting, that's not a sustainable planit's just planning for failure. In 2008 and 2011, Walden held similar meetings in Elgin and John Day. All of us would be better off if federal agencies like the Forest Service took more time to heed local input, Walden said. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |