Fishing and Conservation Groups Petition to Ensure Recovery of Fish and Wildlife on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2009

Contacts: Bob Van Dyk, Wild Salmon Center – (503) 504-8471

Donald Fontenot, Sierra Club – (503) 704-3116

Fishing and Conservation Groups Petition to Ensure Recovery of Fish and

Wildlife on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests

Portland, Oregon — Today, the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Northwest Guides and Anglers

Association, Pacific Rivers Council, Wild Salmon Center, the Association of Northwest

Steelheaders, Coast Range Association, Native Fish Society and the Center for Biological Diversity

filed a formal Petition with the Oregon Board of Forestry requesting that the Board reverse its

decision to increase clear cutting on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests and engage in an open,

transparent and scientific process to pursue a management approach consistent with applicable law.

On June 3rd, the Oregon Board of Forestry voted to increase the areas open to clear cutting from

50% to 70% of the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. The Board’s decision authorizes increased

clear cutting of thousands of acres of diverse, native forests, which are rare in the North Coast range,

including up to 70% of some key salmon “anchor” watersheds. Current state law requires high

standards of protection for the streams in the Tillamook and Clatsop forests, which are still

recovering from the unsustainable timber harvests and related road building of the past.

While the law requires that the Board’s decision result in a high probability of maintaining and

restoring aquatic habitat, state scientists found that the proposal had a low probability of keeping

many key salmon basins on a positive trajectory. According to Bob Van Dyk of the Wild Salmon

Center, “The Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan sets achievable goals to restore aquatic habitat.

However, much like the failed Western Oregon Plan Revisions proposed by the Bush

Administration, the Board of Forestry chose politics over science and ignored the legal requirements

for ensuring the recovery of native fish and wildlife.”

The group’s petition also recounts how the Board violated its own rules regarding transparency

and openness at its recent meeting to discuss the decision. Senator Jackie Dingfelder and numerous

other Oregonians had written the Board to try to dissuade it from making this move. Chair

Blackwell failed to share these letters with the rest of the Board and allotted a mere thirty minutes to

a crowded room of citizens who came to testify. Donald Fontenot, a volunteer with the Sierra Club,

was dismayed, saying “The Board of Forestry showed its allegiance to the timber industry by

steamrolling over the public, ignoring the best available science, and making a political decision to

prioritize timber production rather than looking out for best interests of our state forests and the

public who owns them.”

The Tillamook and Clatsop state forests that are affected by this decision are the largest publiclyowned

coastal rainforest south of the Olympics and home to some of the healthiest remaining runs of

wild fish in the lower 48 states. These forests and the health of their watersheds face an uncertain

future if the Board’s recommendations are allowed to proceed unchallenged.

View the petition at: www.crag.org (Crag Law Center)

View the Board’s decision at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/BOARD/BOF_060309_Meeting.shtml

For Immediate Release: July 31, 2009

Contacts:
Bob Van Dyk, Wild Salmon Center – (503) 504-8471
Donald Fontenot, Sierra Club – (503) 704-3116

Fishing and Conservation Groups Petition to Ensure Recovery of
Fish and Wildlife on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests

Portland, Oregon — Today, the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club, Northwest Guides and Anglers Association, Pacific Rivers Council, Wild Salmon Center, the Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Coast Range Association, Native Fish Society and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal Petition with the Oregon Board of Forestry requesting that the Board reverse its decision to increase clear cutting on the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests and engage in an open, transparent and scientific process to pursue a management approach consistent with applicable law.

On June 3rd, the Oregon Board of Forestry voted to increase the areas open to clear cutting from 50% to 70% of the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. The Board’s decision authorizes increased clear cutting of thousands of acres of diverse, native forests, which are rare in the North Coast range, including up to 70% of some key salmon “anchor” watersheds. Current state law requires high standards of protection for the streams in the Tillamook and Clatsop forests, which are still recovering from the unsustainable timber harvests and related road building of the past.

While the law requires that the Board’s decision result in a high probability of maintaining and restoring aquatic habitat, state scientists found that the proposal had a low probability of keeping many key salmon basins on a positive trajectory. According to Bob Van Dyk of the Wild Salmon Center, “The Oregon Coast Coho Conservation Plan sets achievable goals to restore aquatic habitat. However, much like the failed Western Oregon Plan Revisions proposed by the Bush Administration, the Board of Forestry chose politics over science and ignored the legal requirementsfor ensuring the recovery of native fish and wildlife.”

The groups’ petition also recounts how the Board violated its own rules regarding transparency and openness at its recent meeting to discuss the decision. Senator Jackie Dingfelder and numerous other Oregonians had written the Board to try to dissuade it from making this move. Chair Blackwell failed to share these letters with the rest of the Board and allotted a mere thirty minutes to a crowded room of citizens who came to testify. Donald Fontenot, a volunteer with the Sierra Club, was dismayed, saying “The Board of Forestry showed its allegiance to the timber industry by steamrolling over the public, ignoring the best available science, and making a political decision to prioritize timber production rather than looking out for best interests of our state forests and the public who owns them.”

The Tillamook and Clatsop state forests that are affected by this decision are the largest publiclyowned coastal rainforest south of the Olympics and home to some of the healthiest remaining runs of wild fish in the lower 48 states. These forests and the health of their watersheds face an uncertain future if the Board’s recommendations are allowed to proceed unchallenged.

Click here to view the petition.

View the Board’s decision at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/BOARD/BOF_060309_Meeting.shtml

Sierra Club’s Ivan Maluski on Dept. of Interior Decision to Roll Back Bush Administration’s Western Oregon Plan Revision

“The Obama administration’s move today signals a return to scientific management of our public forests and a marks an important step towards protecting Oregon’s remaining mature and old growth forests from unsustainable logging and roadbuilding,” said Ivan Maluski, Conservation Coordinator for the Oregon Chaper of the Sierra Club. “These last wild forests protect the climate, produce clean water, and sustain world class salmon runs and reacreational opportunities that contribute to Oregon’s diverse economy.”

Interior Withdraws Legally Flawed Plan for Oregon Forests, Presses For Sustainable Timber Harvests

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Because the previous Administration failed to follow
established administrative procedure before leaving office, its plan to
intensify logging in western Oregon – known as the Western Oregon Plan
Revisions (WOPR) – is legally indefensible and must be withdrawn, Secretary
of the Interior Ken Salazar said today.

Moreover, Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Thomas
Strickland said that the federal government will ask the District Court to
vacate the Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2008 revision of the critical
habitat for the spotted owl, on which the WOPR was in part based, because
Interior’s Inspector General determined that the decisionmaking process for
the owl’s recovery plan was potentially jeopardized by improper political
influence.

“We have carefully reviewed the lawsuits filed against the WOPR and it is
clear that as a result of the previous Administration’s late actions, the
plan cannot stand up in court and, if defended, could lead to years of
fruitless litigation and inaction,” said Secretary Salazar.  ”Now, at a
time when western Oregon communities are already struggling, we face the
fallout of the previous Administration’s skirting of the law and efforts to
taint scientific outcomes.  It is important that we act swiftly to restore
certainty to timber harvests on BLM lands and to protect vital timber
infrastructure in these tough economic times.”

To help protect jobs and timber infrastructure in the region, Salazar
directed the Bureau of Land Management-in coordination with the Fish and
Wildlife Service-to identify ecologically sound timber sales under the
Northwest Forest Plan that can get wood to the mills over the coming
months. With the withdrawal of the WOPR, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
forests in western Oregon will again be managed under the Northwest Forest
Plan, which guided BLM timber sales from 1994 until December 2008.

Salazar noted that the legal problem with the Western Oregon Plan
Revisions, which was finalized in late December 2008, arose from the
previous Administration’s decision not to complete consultation on the
plan’s impacts on endangered species under Section 7 of the Endangered
Species Act.  The WOPR also partially relied on spotted owl protections
that have been challenged in federal court and have been called into
question by Interior’s Inspector General, who determined that the integrity
of the decision making process was potentially jeopardized as a result of
the improper political influence of a former Bush Administration official.

Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks Thomas Strickland said
today that the federal government will conduct a thorough review of the
2008 Spotted Owl Recovery Plan, which informed both the WOPR and the Fish
and Wildlife Service’s 2008 revision of critical habitat for the spotted
owl.

“We will work with the scientific community to ensure that the spotted owl
recovery plan lives up to its name, by accounting for scientific and
technical reviews by prominent national scientific organizations, as well
as forthcoming new data on the status of the spotted owl population,” said
Strickland.  ”A solid, peer-reviewed recovery plan will provide a road map
for the spotted owl’s return to health, enabling us to designate critical
habitat areas and help develop a forest management plan that meaningfully
contributes to its recovery.”

If the court agrees to vacate the Service’s 2008 critical habitat revision,
designated critical habitat for the spotted owl would revert to the 6.9
million acres designated in 1992 until a new designation is finalized.

Secretary Salazar said that despite the late actions of the previous
Administration,  Senator Ron Wyden, Governor Ted Kulongoski, Senator Jeff
Merkley, Congressman Peter DeFazio, and others have helped build consensus
around a vision for forestry on Oregon’s BLM lands that moves the region
beyond the battles of the past. “There is broadening agreement that it is
time to reevaluate the logging of old growth forests on BLM lands,” said
Secretary Salazar.  ”There is also agreement that logging should not occur
in areas that would put water quality at risk, and we should fully consider
advances in forestry and increased knowledge of species’ needs over the
last two decades.”

While the FWS revises its Recovery Plan, the BLM will explore the
development of local, collaborative planning processes in areas where
timber harvest is particularly important – and often controversial – such
as in the Roseburg and Medford Districts.  These collaborative efforts
could serve as the starting point for the eventual development of new
resource management plans for Western Oregon.

“Local and tribal communities, stakeholders, and the dedicated men and
women of the BLM and the FWS in the Pacific Northwest have worked very hard
on these issues for many years,” said Secretary Salazar.  ”Their expertise
and experience will be essential as we work to craft a timber program that
can ensure a sustainable economic and environmental future for the Pacific
Northwest.”

Acting Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management Ned Farquhar
emphasized that forest restoration and timber harvest are dual, compatible
goals.  ”We can support a strong and sustainable forest industry by
focusing on thinning, forest restoration projects, and certain types of
regeneration harvests,” said Farquhar.  ”Done right, timber harvests can
increase the structural complexity of stands, provide better habitat for
spotted owls and other wildlife, reduce the risk of catastrophic fire,
provide revenue for Western Oregon counties, and generate a reliable and
robust supply of timber for local mills and biomass plants.”

Interior agencies are taking several immediate and coordinated steps to
help local communities, said Farquhar.  They will engage local
stakeholders, counties, elected officials, and the State of Oregon to put
appropriate projects online as fast as possible.  ”We will keep offering
timber for sale, we will do all we can to maintain western Oregon’s timber
infrastructure, and we will work with the timber industry to extend
existing contracts.”

Sierra Club Announces 100 Coal Plants Prevented or Abandoned as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council Considers a Coal-Free Northwest

As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush, including Westward Energy’s Columbia River Clean Energy Center in Oregon, and power agreements among Oregon utilities for plants in Utah and Washington. In their place, a smart mix of clean energy solutions like energy efficiency, wind, solar and geothermal has stepped up to meet America’s energy needs. Last year 42 percent of all new power producing capacity came from wind, and for the first time the wind industry created more jobs than mining coal.

Coming just a week after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city would end coal use by 2020, the Intermountain Power coal plant in Utah became the 100th prevented coal plant. The decision marks a significant milestone in the shift to clean energy.

For the past six years the Sierra Club and its allies have been running a hard-hitting campaign to expose the dirty truth about coal. Tremendous grassroots pressure, rising costs, and upcoming federal carbon regulations all contributed to the demise of the 100 plants.

“We’re clearly shifting toward a cleaner, healthier, more secure future, and by ending the new coal rush here in Oregon we are leading the way,” said Cesia Kearns, Sierra Club Organizer. “But to truly reap the benefits of a clean energy economy Oregon needs to start replacing our old, dirty coal power with renewable energy, and we’re looking to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council to realize that as they develop their 6th plan for the region.”

As the new coal rush ends in many states, the Sierra Club is working to replace existing dirty and unreliable coal plants, like the Boardman coal plant that are large contributors to health harming soot, smog and mercury pollution, with cleaner energy options that create more jobs. One exciting local opportunity that will impact Oregon’s energy future is a decision before the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC), which will be meeting in Portland next week. Every 5 years, the NWPCC develops and revisits a 20 year plan for how electricity is managed regionally across Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho. The Council could include a scenario phasing out coal-fired power in the development of their 6th plan, the theme of which is “Climate Change”.

“The community opposition to the Boardman coal plant here is just one part of a growing nationwide movement,” said Kearns. “It’s clear that the American people are ready for a switch to the clean energy technologies that can help repower our economy. We need decision-makers like the NWPCC to act on this desire, and build the new economy.”

Currently, the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign in Oregon is seeking to make Oregon America’s first renewable energy state by phasing out the Boardman Coal plant and ending all power purchase agreements with coal from other states. Oregon relies on coal for nearly 41% of its energy mix and half of that is supplied by Portland General Electric’s (PGE) Boardman Coal plant which emits 5 million tons of global warming pollution every year, along with harmful levels of soot and smog pollution, which can worsen asthma and cause other respiratory illnesses.

“The coal industry, including PGE, is working hard to keep dirty coal a part of Oregon’s energy mix. “The proverbial writing is on the wall – Americans no longer want to rely on polluting fossil fuels for their energy,” said Robin Everett, Sierra Club Organizer. “Instead of relying on antiquated, 19th century technology, PGE should shut down the Boardman Coal plant and end all imports of coal into Oregon and truly move us into a clean energy future.”

For more, visit www.sierraclub.org/100coalplants and www.oregon.sierraclub.org/coal
###

Oregon Chapter Volunteers Receive National Recognition

Oregon Chapter volunteers play a pivotal role in the success of the Sierra Club, both here in Oregon and across the nation.  This year, we are proud to announce that three of our own have been recognized by the national Sierra Club for their contributions and work to explore, enjoy, and protect our planet.

David Bybee

Dave Bybee, Columbia Group Outings Leader, is the 2009 recipient of the Sierra Club’s Oliver Kehrlein award.  This award honors those who have demonstrated exemplary service to the Sierra Club Outings program over an extended period of time.  David began his Outings service in the UCLA Section of the Angeles Chapter in 1974.  He has trained new outings leaders, taught backpacking classes, developed new leadership programs, and led over 2,000 miles of High Sierra backpack outings.  He  co-authored a book, Hot Springs and Hot Pools of the U.S., to help others discover and preserve these natural resources, and still leads an annual “Hot Springs in the Shadow of the Range of Light” outing in conjunction with the Angeles Chapter. As the Columbia group liaison manager for the Adopt-A-Park program, Dave works with the Oregon Parks and  Recreation Department to provide Trail Maintenance for the popular Latourell Falls trail.  He is the “go to” person for Club history, knowledge and outings lore as well as a valued member of our outings leadership team.

Jill Workman

Jill Workman, Oregon Chapter Chair, is the 2009 recipient of the Sierra Club’s Special Service Award, which honors an individual’s strong and consistent commitment to the Sierra Club’s conservation efforts over an extended period of time. Her love of wilderness led her to join the Oregon Chapter’s High Desert Committee, where she was one of the key players that worked to pass legislation that helped to protect Steens Mountain in October of 2000.  Jill is also being recognized for her efforts to organize a series of lobby weeks over the past six years to bring volunteer constituents to Washington D.C. to build the support and build the momentum needed to pass the Omnibus Public Land Management Act in March of this year.  The Award also cites Jill’s steadfast support of Public Lands Day, and her role in creating its slogan: “Public Lands in Public Hands.”  Over the last three years, the Jill has worked with Chapters and Groups nationwide to plan over 50 restoration events as part of Public Lands Day.

Barry Wulff

Barry Wulff, Marys Peak Group Chair, was selected to receive the Sierra Club’s 2009 Susan E. Miller Award, which honors administrative contributions to groups, chapters and regional entities. Barry has been chairman of the Marys Peak Group since 1999, and under his leadership this relatively small group has expanded to well over 2,000 members who participate in a large number of diverse outings and conservation activities, which have all been primarily due to his contagious enthusiasm and creative innovations.  Since he is retiring from the MPG chairmanship after ten vital years in that position, the time was appropriate for him to finally be officially recognized for his huge contribution.

Tell FERC “No” to both Palomar Pipeline Alternative Routes!

Though the legislative session has just closed down for the year, the fight against LNG terminals and associated pipelines is still in full swing! The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has opened a Supplemental Scoping Period to gain public feedback on two alternate end routes for the Palomar Pipeline.

As it stands, the pipeline would extend from the Bradwood Landing LNG Terminal site on the Columbia River, through the Willamette Valley, and across Mt. Hood National Forest, crossing hundreds of waterways in its path.  The two “alternative routes” do not provide any further protections to Mt. Hood National Forest, and would impact still more waterways in Oregon.  The Maupin Bridge alternative puts the pipeline directly through the City of Maupin, while the Warm Springs alternative routes the pipeline through Warm Springs Reservation, including large areas of Crooked River National Grassland.

The introduction of two new alternative routes for the pipeline so close to the initial deadline for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) raises concerns that FERC will not adequately address the environmental impacts of the pipeline on the areas that the newly-introduced routes pass through.  Just within the new alternatives, the problems of human health and safety, soil disruption in fragile scablands areas, threatened species’ habitat destruction, and conflicts with pre-existing land management plans, are all raised.

The good news is, you can do something about it. Submit a comment to FERC today using their online form, and make your concerns about the Palomar Pipeline heard.  Comments are due July 13th, so please take action as soon as possible.

Below are sample comments, which you should feel free to copy and paste wholesale – consistency is the name of the game when submitting comments on Environmental Impact Statements.

Thanks for taking action, and stay tuned for further action points and events – we’re planning outings to the proposed terminal and pipeline sites at Bradwood Landing and in Mt. Hood National Forest in the coming months, and hope to see you there!

Filing Instructions:
https://ferconline.ferc.gov/QuickComment.aspx
Clicking on the above link will bring you to the FERC “Quick Comment” page; you will need to enter your name and email address, FERC will send you an email very quickly, and you will need to click on the link within that email to continue the filing process.  Enter the docket number in the appropriate field, click “Search,” and then “Select” for Docket Number CP09-35-000.

Click here to learn more about the Sierra Club’s efforts to stop reckless LNG terminals and pipelines.

Sample Comments:  Feel free to cut & paste any or all of these comments!

Docket Number: CP09-35-000

I am writing today as a concerned citizen to submit comments to the Supplemental Scoping Period for the Palomar Gas Transmission (Docket No. CP09-035-000).  I see significant problems with the Palomar Pipeline’s proposed routes, and cannot condone the construction of a pipeline with such massive environmental and public safety impacts.  These so-called “alternatives” are just two different ends the same bad story of needless degradation to the environment and to Oregonians’ quality of life.

The Maupin Bridge alternative route attempts to avoid crossing of the Deschutes River in a designated “wild and scenic” area.  However, it’s shocking that the “alternative” route is right through the center of the city of Maupin.  Maupin residents are concerned about how the pipeline would affect their quality of life – from the standpoints of safety, effects on tourism and recreation, and property values.  And the second alternative – the Warm Springs route – presents devastating effects on Crooked River National Grassland.  The pipeline would disrupt fragile scablands soil composition and threaten already-vulnerable species’ habitats in ways that cannot easily be restored.  Furthermore, the Northern Warm Springs Alternative Route would place the Palomar pipeline outside of a designated utility corridor.  This conflicts directly with the priorities and policies outlined in the Crooked River National Grassland Land Management Plan, which requires that all utility lines be within preexisting utility corridors.

In summary, neither of the two proposed alternatives truly mitigates the harm that the Palomar Gas Transmission pipeline would cause.  This eastern section of the pipeline is still proposed to go through Mt. Hood National Forest, which is unacceptable to the people who rely on the National Forest for recreation; furthermore, both “alternatives” raise serious questions about the safety of the people and ecosystems that the pipeline would pass by and through.  It is my hope that FERC will be able to adequately address these concerns in the DEIS.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]