Walden welcomes news of more USFS listening sessions
The U.S. Forest Service on Friday announced plans to hold a dozen additional forest management plan revision listening sessions, including one in Bend, a month after Northwest lawmakers said the three scheduled events were not enough.
The listening sessions are planned in locations throughout Oregon and Washington. These sessions follow an initial round of listening sessions held earlier in Portland, Seattle and Redding, CA.
Last month, Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and 11 other Northwest lawmakers urged the Forest Service to hold more listening sessions on upcoming revisions to the Northwest Forest Plan.
They expressed concern that sessions were only held in three locations, many miles from some who’d like to take part in the process.
“For over 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan has profoundly impacted the communities within our districts and any revisions to the plan will have a similar effect,” the members wrote. “Holding only three listening sessions disadvantages our constituents in these rural communities.
“While incorporating the latest science and revising the Northwest Forest Plan is long overdue, the Forest Service should take all steps possible to ensure that the public has ample opportunities to participate,” the members continued.
On Monday, Walden greeted news of additional listening sessions.
“This is a step in the right direction, and I urge the Forest Service to continue to gather public input from the communities that will be impacted most by these revisions. But it’s not enough to just collect input. The agency must carefully listen to what they hear from residents of rural forested communities as they revise the Northwest Forest Plan. If they do, they will learn a lot,” Walden said.
“We promised to evaluate the need for additional forest-level listening sessions,” said Jim Pea, Pacific Northwest regional forester. “We heard a strong desire for more sessions, so we’re holding the next round at local forest locations to further our commitment to engaging with and listening to the concerns of our communities.”
The Bend session will be held at the Deschutes National Forest headquarters in Bend on Tuesday, April 28th, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., said forest spokeswoman Jean Nelson-Dean.
The purposes of the sessions are to:
• Share the agency’s current thinking on plan revision,
• Share how science will inform the process, and
• Listen to ideas and thoughts about how to approach public engagement for forest plan revisions on each national forest.
The other dates, locations and forests follow:
Date Location Forest(s)
April 23rd Mt. Vernon Mount Baker-Snoqualmie
April 27th Corvallis Siuslaw
April 28th Issaquah Mount Baker-Snoqualmie
April 28th Olympia Olympic and Gifford Pinchot
April 28th Roseburg Umpqua
May 4th Pleasant Hill Willamette
May 4th Lakeview Fremont-Winema
May 5th Klamath Falls Fremont-Winema
May 6th Stayton Willamette
TBD Hood River Mt. Hood, Columbia Gorge Scenic Area,
Gifford Pinchot
TBD TBD Okanogan-Wenatchee, Ochoco
Rogue River-Siskiyou,
Specific locations and times will be announced by each Forest as their plans are finalized, and posted on forest and region websites at http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/?cid=stelprd3831710
