News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
About 22 percent of the world’s forests lie in Russia. the man in charge of managing those forests was in Sisters on Wednesday, June 28, consulting with his American peers on management techniques, organization and technology.
The visit was part of Russian Federal Forest Agency Chief Valery Roshchupkin’s tour of the United States, which also involved a visit to U.S. Forest Service Chief Dale Bosworth in Washington, D.C. Bosworth had previously visited Roshchupkin in Moscow.
According to Deschutes National Forest Supervisor Leslie Weldon, the U.S. and Russia have a government-to-government agreement to cooperate on natural resource policy and to share information and techniques.
“His visit was about sort of re-starting that relationship,” Weldon said.
Roshchupkin and three of his colleagues met with Weldon and Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony at Pine Rest Camp near Allingham Guard Station in Camp Sherman and later dined in Sisters.
The Camp Sherman area and the Deschutes National Forest at large was chosen to give Roshchupkin a prime example of a Western forest. The terrain and flora and fauna of the Sisters area is closely matched in some areas of Russia.
The foresters discussed forest service organization, how agencies involve the public in management decisions, approach to wildfire, and sustainable forest management.
Weldon said that Russian foresters have ramped up public involvement in forest issues considerably since the fall of the Soviet regime. The Russian Federal Forest Agency dwarfs the U.S. Forest Service with 200,000 employees compared to 30,000 in the U.S. In some areas, Weldon said, the Russians are more sophisticated in the use of technology in forest management — specifically in using remote sensing technology for forest monitoring and inventory.
Russian sophistication in forest management should come as no surprise.
“Russia has been involved in forest management probably longer then the U.S.,” Weldon said.
Weldon said the visit “was an excellent experience, especially getting to know the perspective of Russian foresters. They really appreciated being able to interact with professional foresters.”
For more information on international forestry, visit http://www.fs.fed.us and click on “international” on the menu bar at the left of the page.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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