Locals see changes with forest bill

Thinning projects near Sisters may go faster in the wake of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 3.

However, some local foresters and activists are skeptical about the bill's real impact on Sisters forests.

The act promises a streamlined appeals process, protection for old growth, and a $760 million budget ($420 million for hazardous fuel reduction projects).

Roland Giller, public affairs officer for the Ochoco and Deschutes National Forests said, "I haven't seen the actual language of the act, but I'm confident these thinning projects will go through faster."

Oregon has a particular interest in the bill, having suffered through two of the worst fire years in history in 2002-03.

There is broad agreement that thinning needs to be done to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire. However, there are differences of opinion over what constitutes thinning and what amounts to commercial logging.

Dave Priest, Reforestation Technician for the Forest Service, is "skeptical because Congress is still managing the forest from afar when it should be the people that are living and working there."

Priest explained that thinning has different meanings.

"I believe that people are under the assumption that it's mostly the smaller trees and brush that will get thinned in the forest," he said.

"It's going to take the cutting of larger trees to make the thinning effective against forest fires."

He added, "Thinning the larger trees will stabilize the forest ecosystem and return it somewhat to the original state before there was fire suppression. Proper management is the only way we can go back."

That has some activists worried.

"Giving the U.S. Forest Service carte blanche to log wherever it sees fire risks is like putting the North Koreans in charge of nuclear safety," said Mall. "First, because heightened fire risk in federal forests is a direct result of 90 years of Forest Service mismanagement. Second, because unrestrained thinning of forests far away from communities and homes is at best a waste of scarce fire-risk reduction resources and dollars -- and may even increase fire risk.

Many environmentalists fear the "streamlining of the appeals process."

However, according to U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, "not one current opportunity for public comment will be lost."

Some local activists believe the act is only a part of the overall answer.

"I don't think it goes far enough," said Toni Foster, member of the local watchdog organization Friends of the Metolius.

"There's no statute for a timeline when lawsuits are filed against the Forest Service," she said.

"In the Healthy Forests Act, this is what's been overlooked. This is what bogs the Forest Service down."