REVIVE RURAL OREGON
For nearly a century, America's federal public lands have been logged, extracted and roaded to the point of instability. Our climate continues to warm due to carbon released from these industrial activities, drinking water and air have been compromised, and species have been pushed to the brink of extinction. Instead of a system that continues this degradation on our public lands, Cascadia Wildlands has long advocated a land management system that is driven by restoration. We envision loggers working in the woods restoratively thinning the millions of acres of homogenous tree farms that replaced the complex old-growth forests, heavy equipment operators stabilizing and decommissioning harmful roads the government on longer has funding to maintain, and contractors enhancing aquatic habitat by placing large wood back in waterways to assist salmon recovery. We believe this recipe can restore ecological health to our lands and also revive rural communities who have been most affected by logging cutbacks.
latest news
December 2010: Cascadia Wildlands supports the Middle Fork District of the Willamette National Forest's proposal to stabilize and decommission 132 miles of road above endangered bull trout habitat in the headwaters of the upper Middle Fork of the Willamette River.
2008: Cascadia Wildlands participates in a collaborative stewardship group on the McKenzie Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest.
2007: Cascadia Wildlands participates in a collaborative stewardship group on the Middle Fork Ranger District of the Willamette National Forest.
2005: Cascadia Wildlands participates in a collaborative stewardship group on the Cottage Grove District of the Umpqua National Forest.
background
With millions of acres of clearcuts and tens of thousands of miles of unmaintained and unstable roads on our public lands in Cascadia, we see an opportunity. An opportunity to shift federal management away from further degradation of our public lands and into one that is driven by restoration. While currently underway, this paradigm is just in its infancy, with new tools, funding and authorities arising regularly that will help assist this transition. If given the public support and funding, we believe the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management and stakeholders involved in public land management have the ability to fix what has been broken over the past century.
Decades of clearcutting and replanting have left us with millions of acres of dense, young tree farms. These tree farms consist of even-aged, single-species trees that do not function as dynamic, healthy forests or provide habitat for many wildlife species.
Recent science has shown that the continued survival of endangered wildlife such as the northern spotted owl requires proactive restoration of tree farms. A by-product of these restoration projects is wood for local mills and jobs for rural communities. Restoration forestry projects offer a win-win solution to protecting wildlife, providing timber products, reviving struggling economies, and avoiding further degradation of remaining ancient forests.
Cascadia Wildlands collaborates with community members, advises project planners, participates in field tours, and outreaches at community events to ensure that restoration projects adequately protect water supplies and genuinely restore habitat.
links and resources
1. The Business and Regulatory Environments of Watershed Restoration
2. Characteristics of Watershed Restoration Funding
3. Economic Benefits Arising From Watershed Restoration
4. Legacy Roads Funding: A Briefing by USFS Region 6
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