District reopens after government shutdown

Leslie Brown | Last updated Jan 16, 1996 12:0pm0

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Forest Service workers at the Sisters Ranger District returned January 8 from what was probably their longest Christmas vacation since school days.

But the shutdown of federal government offices for 19 days, while Congress and the Clinton administration tangled in a budget impasse, was hardly a time of unalloyed enjoyment for the foresters.

They are now making up for lost time on several projects delayed somewhat by the furlough.

District Information Assistant Tori Roberts said the situation wasn't as bad as it might have been. An interdisciplinary team found itself short on preparation time, but went ahead anyway with a January 13 informational meeting at Camp Sherman on a draft environmental impact statement for the Metolius Wild and Scenic River Management Plan. The end date of a public comment period on the draft will still be February 16, she said.

Actually, not all of the district's staff was affected by the furlough. Roberts said the district ranger, or an acting ranger, stayed on duty, along with a law enforcement officer, a computer technician and timber sale administrators.

There were some delays in planning for the North Slope and Jack Canyon salvage timber sales. Roberts said, however, that trust funds from forest receipts, earmarked for salvage planning, were not frozen by the shutdown.

District Ranger Karen Shimamoto said planning for the salvage sale of dead trees along the Santiam corridor was delayed to a degree, as was planning for the east portal of the scenic byway project at Sisters' west end. However, the district's timetable remains in place for an early February sale of the North Slope (Suttle Lake curve) project and for the Jack Canyon salvage in the Camp Sherman area, scheduled to be sold in August.

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