Citing a lack of time for public participation, U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) on Monday called on a U.S. Forest Service official to extend the review period of road maps for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
In a letter to Jim Pena, the regional forester for Washington and Oregon, Walden stressed area residents’ concern that assessing and correcting existing condition road maps covering a 2.3 million-acre area is challenging because of limited high-speed Internet connection in some rural areas and a limited supply of hard copy maps. He requested the review period be extended by 90 days.
The maps will determine which roads the agency closes or leaves open to motorized vehicles under the travel-management plan being considered for the forest in eastern Oregon.
Walden said Pena “heard loud and clear from local residents who are tired of their input being overlooked” at an October summit organized by Walden to discuss creating rural jobs, maintaining forest access and restoring forest health.
“In eastern Oregon, accessing our forests is a way of life, whether for huckleberry picking, mining, firewood cutting, hunting or just going for a ride through the woods,” Walden said. “Local communities are most affected by these regulations, and their needs and input must be at the forefront of the decision-making process.”
Residents also raised concerns about the loss of local timber harvest jobs during the summit. Walden said 4,700 mill jobs were lost since 1990, when 680 million board feet was harvested from the forest. In 2013, that number decreased to 71 million.
“The decline in timber harvests on federal land has significantly harmed these communities as well, while our forests have become overgrown, disease infested and subject to catastrophic fires,” Walden wrote in his letter to Pena. “Certainty in timber supply is integral to local job creation and maintaining the mill infrastructure needed to effectively treat our forests. … I hope that you will not just push forward with the plan as written, but rather work with the local communities to find a path forward on the forest plan that can help bring healthy forests and healthy communities back to northeast Oregon.”