Forest restoration protects Sisters area

A unique coalition of businesses, agencies and environmentalists is working to restore forests in the area near Black Butte Ranch.

Foresters will thin out dense stands of young trees that have grown in due to historic fire suppression and logging. The project will reduce the overall fuel load in the forests west of Sisters and restore natural ecological function.

Crews will also cut young trees in old growth and medium-aged ponderosa pine stands in order to reduce fire threat to mature trees.

Other activities will include thinning and restoration of aspen/lodgepole pine stands, mowing of understory brush and small trees where appropriate and removal of unneeded fences. Small "leave areas" will be designated for diversity and wildlife needs. Deer and elk habitat requirements are considered as a part of the project.

The Glaze Forest/Black Butte Restoration Project is the brainchild of Oregon Wild, formerly known as the Oregon Natural Resources Council (ONRC). The forest restoration project - with the goal of reducing fire risk - will affect a little over 1,200 acres.

Founded as a non-profit organization in 1974, Oregon Wild's stated purpose is "the protection and restoration of Oregon's wildlands, wildlife and waters." The group has been instrumental in securing permanent legislative protection for some of Oregon's most precious landscapes, including nearly 1.5 million acres of wilderness, 95,000 acres of forests in the Bull Run/Little Sandy watersheds and almost 1,700 miles of Wild and Scenic Rivers.

The organization is following a cooperative approach to environmental projects. This is not a new idea; it was pioneered in the Sisters area by the Friends of the Metolius, according to Elke Dortmund, secretary of the organization.

Dortmund believes that the cooperative approach is the best way to get things accomplished, believing that there needs to be a sense of balance in actions that are taken to find a common ground.

Oregon Wild's strength is not the result of the actions of a few dedicated activists; rather its strength is the outgrowth of a broad and active grassroots citizen network. The organization has more than 5,000 members and well over 1,000 active volunteers who have worked to maintain environmental laws and build broad community support for their projects. Such is the case with the project slated for the Sisters area.

Tim Lillebo, Eastern Oregon Wildlands Advocate for Oregon Wild, explained that his group's goal was to develop a plan with input from as many parties as possible to find the common ground so that, "most if not all of the public, the conservation groups, the Forest Service, the timber industry and the local community could agree. So we could move forward together without having so much controversy."

Sisters City Manager Eileen Stein stated that the Greater Sisters Country Community Wildfire Protection Plan Steering Committee endorsed the Glaze Forest/Black Butte Restoration Project.

She added a caveat: "The steering committee really endorsed the project on those grounds (cooperative effort) as much as for the fuel reduction."

Stein said: "This project is really taking a collaborative approach with all the interests that have been traditionally opposed in the past. He (Lillebo) has worked very hard to make sure that he has the support of the Forest Service, the support of the Greater Sisters Country Community Wildfire Protection Plan Steering Committee, but also wants to make sure that he has the support from not just his organization but other environmental organizations so that everybody understands that fuel reduction needs to be happening."

Dortmund also agreed that the cooperative approach is the solution to the historic controversy that surrounds so much of the care and management of the forest.

"It is nice to see some of the hard core environmentalists coming around and seeing that something has to be done," she said. "Otherwise we are going to lose the entire forest."

To date, Oregon Wild and its partners have raised $85,000 for the project in cash contributions and grants; additionally they have raised $9,300 from in-kind donations.

Oregon Wild initially partnered with the Warm Springs Forest Products Industries to develop a restoration and fuels reduction project.

Calvin Mukumoto of the Warm Springs Forest Products Industries said that he was so excited about the Metolius Stewardship project that he decided, "We need to find an example where we can show restoration and fuel reduction in a collaborative effort with conservationists to show that it is possible to work together."