One of the major policies that directly impacts all that you hold dear about our wild and scenic public lands is about to change. The many years of strident work exerted by the conservation community at large, and Umpqua Watersheds, in particular are a result of addressing issues associated with the Planning Rule utilized by the US Forest Service.

The Planning Rule is the product of Congress under the National Forest Management Act. The last time this management policy was changed occurred in 1982. Much of the clear cutting and ecological degradation of our National Forests were a direct result of previous planning rules and its USFS multi-use mandate. The loss of critical species and habitat, the preservation of what remains of native landscapes, the litigations and the continual effort to raise awareness in society at large regarding your stake in our publicly owned National Forest Lands often hinged directly on the Planning Rule. Even those areas of the past rules that did reasonably negotiate problems we are concerned with often fell to neglect or misinterpretation. To sum this up, the planning rule is something the conservation community should have at the front and center of its attention. It’s important. The old rules didn’t work and evidence of that is all around us.

The terms and analogies that have traditionally been used to discuss ecological and social aspects of forest issues have in many cases become barriers to innovative thinking rather than tools for communication and understanding. A case in point: The Three Legged Stool.

This metaphor pops up in human discourse from time to time to represent three concepts that are perceived to be mutually dependent on each other – if one leg is missing, the stool falls over. A Google search of “three legged stool” returns over three hundred thousand hits referring to taxes, marketing, religion, sustainable development, etc. While this image resonates with our human sense of physical equilibrium, it doesn’t always reflect reality.

The three legged stool has struck again close to home. Umpqua Watersheds members are now actively engaged in yet another BLM initiative: “The Secretarial Forestry Pilot Project” initiated by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the request of our Oregon congressional delegation. As in earlier meetings, we have again been told by Secretary Salazar, our congressional delegation, BLM officials, the lead scientists, and members of the public that we need to consider the three legged stool of economic, ecological and social contributions from our forests (e.g. Roseburg BLM Collaborative Pilot, 2010; Franklin and Johnson, 2010; many others).

The watersheds of the Coquille River System have been under assault by extractive interests for a long time. Beginning in the late 1880’s and continuing to the present, logging has contributed large volumes of sediment to the river. Before 1878, the head of tide was located at the confluence of the Middle and South Forks, just upstream from Hoffman Wayside, on Highway 42. Today, it is near Myrtle Point, having been forced downstream nearly four miles by the accumulation of sediment on the river bottom.

At the January meeting of the Executive Board of the Coquille Watershed Association, it was reported that the South Fork of the Coquille owns the worst case of riparian erosion on the West Coast. The other forks are similarly degraded. Clear cut harvest practices conducted under the aegis of the Oregon Forest Practices Act continue to contribute sediment and high winter flow rates to these important salmon, trout and steelhead streams. Water quality samples gathered by the Oregon DEQ indicate unacceptable levels of pollution, including high temperatures, low summer flows, poor dissolved oxygen values, e coli contamination and more.

Spring time roadside spraying will begin again around Douglas County in April and May. When herbicides are used along roadsides, people can be exposed while driving, walking the dog, bicycling or spending time in their yards. People are becoming concerned about how this use of herbicides is impacting human health and the environment. More and more, a roadside strip of brown and dying vegetation is not an acceptable sight.

You can establish no-spray zones in your neighborhood as well as demand adequate notification.

First you must enter into a “No-Spray Agreement” with the County. This agreement can be obtained at the Douglas County Public Works Department on 433 Rifle Range Road in Roseburg. After completing the simple form you will be issued signs to be placed on your property boundaries along the road. The road crews will not honor homemade signs, only the county issued signs.

I encourage and challenge communities in Douglas County to pursue changing the roadside spray policies in their neighborhoods. Wouldn’t it be terrific if hundreds or thousands of people posted their properties?

In November, Umpqua Watersheds, Inc., along with many other conservation groups, objected to the D Bug Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project. A brief summary of our objection was: