Another logging project in the Metolius?
The Metolius Watershed: Caitlyn Burford
Speak up for the forest!
Logging project in the Metolius Watershed under review
Central Oregon LandWatch and its supporters have been defenders of the Metolius Watershed since it was first threatened by timber thefts in the 1980s.
We remain devoted to protecting the Metolius River and the healthy, robust forest that sustains it.
As a result, we’ve been keeping a close eye on the proposed Green Ridge Landscape Restoration Project since 2017. This project would include thinning and logging on nearly 25,000 acres of forest just north of Sisters. The Forest Service frames this Project as needed restoration for a landscape damaged by fire and logging.
The Project claims to improve forest structure and wildlife habitat due to past fire suppression, clear-cutting, and high-grade logging.
Central Oregon Landwatch is eager to see projects that truly restore degraded ecosystems in our forests and watersheds, and we want to support the overall goals of this Project.
But we are concerned about the methods. This project would be detrimental, with damaging and unnecessary logging that puts wildlife at serious risk, if the Forest Service carries out its plans as they currently stand.
We need your help to speak up for the forest!
Find out how to take action below before this Friday, November 19.
The Story Behind the Green Ridge Project
We began monitoring the Green Ridge Project in 2017 when the Forest Service released a Project Public Scoping letter with a Proposed Tre. In response, Central Oregon LandWatch submitted comments with several concerns and suggested Project improvements.
Now, the current plan preferred by the Sisters’ Ranger District would impact 19,991 acres with thinning and logging throughout the entire project landscape.
This wasn’t the only option.
The newly released Draf includes an amended version of their 2017 plan as Alternative Two, and proposes two other alternative action treatment plans and one no action at all plan. Alternative Four considers some of the improvements submitted by LandWatch and is the Forest Service’s least invasive plan. The Sisters Ranger District’s preferred plan, Alternative Two, would treat 19,991 acres of the 24,982-acre project area.
Central Oregon Landwatch is alarmed by the number of proposed treatments in the Administratively Withdrawn Areas, Late Successional Reserves, and Riparian Reserves and has general concerns with the Forest Service methods proposed to meet the stated Project Purpose.
We are concerned about the following Forest Service actions:
We are concerned about the amount of proposed logging in riparian areas along rivers and streams.
We do not believe the Forest Service should knowingly degrade vital habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl, (NSO) and mule deer habitat by logging in habitat areas, including NSO dispersal areas.
We have issues with the number of roads connected to the project that disrupt and fragment mule deer habitat and the habitat of other sensitive species. The Forest Service should not add new temporary roads, especially in riparian areas, nor do any mechanical thinning in riparian areas and late-successional reserve areas. Additionally, the Forest Service should decommission rather than close as many roads as possible, especially in vital mule deer habitat found in the project area’s high meadows and mature forests
Finally, we know the proposed plan includes an excessive reduction of vegetation that will harm mule deer and further impact this struggling herd, which has declined by 40% in recent years.
Northern Spotted Owl: Frank Lospalluto
Take Action!
It’s true that landscape restoration is needed in this area. But we need to make sure the Forest Service balances the Project’s restoration needs with protecting critical habitat for wildlife and our old-growth forests. We can’t just let them cut down this forest under the guise of restoration. More often than not, a hands-off approach where we let forests recover from disturbances like fire naturally is the best approach.
The public has until this Friday to weigh in on the issue. All emails will go on the record for consideration in the Project’s proposal. Send in a comment before 4:30 p.m. on Friday, November 19 directly to comments-pacificnorthwest-deschutes-sisters@usda.gov
While comments tend to have a greater impact if you write from your own perspective, if you need a little help getting started, here is a template to consider.
Suggested Talking Points for Public Comment
Not sure quite what to say? Read a summary of suggested talking points below. If you’d like to learn more about the context and background of each of these suggested talking points, you can take a deeper dive into our expanded talking points that provide additional background.
Related to treatments in Northern Spotted Owl (NSO) habitat
Ask the Forest Service to keep logging projects out of the Northern Spotted Owl dispersal habitat! Ask that all Northern Spotted Owl dispersal habitat areas be dropped from the project.
Additionally, Douglas Firs and White Firs are important habitat for owls. Thinning these trees has a major negative impact on the Northern Spotted Owl. Ask that more fir trees be left in place to provide important habitat so we don’t lose this species forever.
Related to treatments in Late Successional Reserves (LSR)
Ask the Forest Service to stay out of Late Successional Reserve areas. These areas of the forest are on their way to becoming old-growth forests, also called “late-successional” forests. Oregon has lost so many old-growth forests in the past. We need to protect our future old-growth forests now!
If some thinning does need to happen in these areas, we ask for a specific and precise commitment to leave all old-growth trees untouched and specify a certain diameter of trees to protect. (Essentially, any tree over a certain age and diameter should be off the table for direct thinning and commercial logging.)
Related to mule deer habitat
This proposed project area includes treatments in critical habitat areas for mule deer. This project is in their winter and summer range in a place where vegetation coverage for warmth, hiding cover, and forage is key. Our mule deer populations are declining year over year, and leaving the bare minimum of tree protection in a restoration project isn’t enough.
Ask that the Forest Service maintain at least 30% tree coverage for mule deer in the MA-7 summer range. (What is MA-7? It’s a land allocation that refers to forested habitat areas with specific tree coverage standards under the Deschutes National Forest Land and Resource Management Plan.) We ask the Forest Service to preserve as much thermal and hiding cover as possible in summer and winter range areas. Locations of cover should also be coordinated to provide comprehensive migration and range coverage in the project area.
Related to Wildlife Retention Clumps
Wildlife Retention Clumps are areas that are set aside in logging projects to keep some wildlife habitat. We need to see more areas protected for wildlife in this project! Right now, they’ve only set aside 5-15% of each logging unit for wildlife retention clumps.
Ask the Forest Service to commit to setting aside a specific percentage for Wildlife Retention Clumps. It should be far greater and more precise than a range of 5-15%. The Forest Service needs to create and share a plan that shows how these Wildlife Retention Clumps connect to each other, so wildlife can move and migrate as needed.
Related to decommissioning roads
The current project proposal would increase the number of roads built in the forest. While these temporary logging roads are typically “closed” at the end of the project, they are often still accessible, leading to a long-term increase in vehicular traffic that severely disrupts wildlife habitat areas.
To respond to this increased disruption, ask the Forest Service to decommission more roads and make them impassable. It’s not enough to “close” the roads on the map, but not on the ground, after project use.
Related to commercial logging
This project is billed as a “restoration project.” If that is true, the forest shouldn’t be sold for profit. Ask the Forest Service to remove all commercial logging from this project.
If commercial logging must occur, we have the right to know why, where, and what trees. The Forest Service should explain the reasoning, provide exact project locations, and impose a maximum limit on the size of trees logged: no trees larger than 21” in diameter should be cut.
Related to carbon storage and climate change
We know that the oldest and biggest trees in Oregon’s forests work as carbon sinks when they’re left standing. Removing trees releases that carbon into the atmosphere. For this project and ongoing projects, ask the Forest Service to conduct a more thorough analysis on the amount of carbon released from the proposed treatment acreage.
Related to disclosure of environmental effects
The Forest Service only did an “Environmental Assessment” of the project. Ask the Forest Service to provide a full “Environmental Impact Statement” that analyzes and discloses the full environmental impacts of the project.
Want to stay involved?
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