Working for Clean Water

We are in the bottom of the 9th inning. We're in our last mile running a marathon. Whatever metaphor we use, it all means the same: this is our week to finish what we started for Washington's families and clean water.

Thank you for being a part of the Working for Clean Water campaign. As you know, the bill (HB 3181/SB 6851) is a win-win for Washington families. It will immediately clean up polluted waterways across the state and create thousands of good paying construction jobs to improve clean water infrastructure.

This has been a tough fight, but look at what we have accomplished together for the Working for Clean Water campaign:

• We introduced a new version of the bill that had support from the environmental community, labor organizations, and the Washington State city and county associations.
  
• We recruited 35 Representatives and 24 Senators to co-sponsor the bill.
  
• Governor Gregoire came out in support of Working for Clean Water when she released her revenue solution package.
  
• We passed Working for Clean Water out of the House Capitol Budget Committee 8-7 last week.
  
• We packed the room in support at the Senate Ways and Means Committee Hearing yesterday.

We could not have done this without people like you standing up and taking action. The oil and chemical industry has been working around the clock to defeat this bill. We can't do this alone and we are so close to passing one of the biggest pieces of environmental legislation in the last twenty years.

Here's our goal: By Friday, can you help us get 2,000 more emails or calls to legislators? Even if you have contacted your legislators before, please tell them again. They have told us that they want to hear from their constituents. If you can do a little bit more, please forward this email to 5 of your friends and ask them to contact their legislators as well.

We see the finish line, but we can't quit now. Please email your legislators today.

Visit www.environmentalpriorities.org to download a detailed fact sheet and learn more about Working for Clean Water.

Thanks for all you do,

Nicole Fallat
Environmental Priorities Coalition

A summary of the issue from Russell Basset's Native Fish Society Blog:

This month, ODF is seeking public input regarding the proposed changes, and NFS encourages all its Oregon members to speak out against them.

Last year, the Oregon Board of Forestry (BOF) directed the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) to make changes to the state’s northwest and southwest Forest Management Plans (FMP). These proposed changes will allow much higher levels of clear-cutting on state forests in the northern Coast Range, an area that is already dominated by short-rotation industrial forestry.

The majority of land that will be affected by these changes are in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests, which sustain and nourish several important native fish rivers and Salmon Anchor Habitats including the Kilchis, Miami, Wilson, Trask, Nehalem and Salmonberry. These forests are still recovering from unsustainable logging practices and massive logging-caused fires that occurred in the mid-20th Century.

The proposed changes would increase clear-cutting on these state lands and greatly reduce environmental protections. In addition, the proposed changes would lessen the range for Layered and Older Forest Structure (complex stands). The current plan designates 50% of the forest for complex stands. The proposed changes would allow that target to drop to 30% of the forest, a loss of 100,000 acres.

The proposed strategy was found to have a “low probability to enhance watershed function” due to “an initial increase in high risk and individual watersheds attain very high levels of cumulative clear cut percentages,” in the Species of Concern Analysis, conducted by ODF biologists.

The Native Fish Society is appalled and angered by the BOF’s decision to reduce habitat protections for salmon, steelhead and other native fish species in Oregon state forests at a time when our state icons need more habitat protections, not less.

Written comments must be received by Jan. 29. In addition, ODF is holding two public hearings on Jan 26 in Salem and Jan. 28 in Seaside to take public input on the proposed changes. Please provide written comments and/or attend one of these meetings to let the BOF and ODF know that Oregonians will not allow their public lands to be sacrificed to the timber industry and a few counties.

Talking points:
• Oregon state forests belong to all Oregonians, not solely the timber industry or county government.
• The board’s decision to open more forest to clear-cutting takes the forests off their restorative trajectory and degrades habitat vital to wild salmon and steelhead.
• A strong emphasis on timber production permeates the proposed changes to the FMP. The current FMP is a compromise, one that produces substantial amounts of timber while also keeping the state forests on a partly restorative trajectory. The proposed changes strongly move state forests in the direction of an industrial forest model. The anticipated timber harvest increases under the proposed rule represent approximately a 40% increase over the levels sustainable under the current plan.
• These proposed changes are a serious blow to the critical task of developing a balanced and consensual view of forest management in Oregon. The proposed changes undermine the search for sustainable forest management that has equal emphasis on environmental, economic and recreational values, and confirms public perceptions that the leadership of the Board of Forestry and the Department of Forestry is focused on timber production and hostile to many of the public values that demand protection and conservation.
• It makes no sense to increase timber harvest at a time when timber prices are at extreme lows.
• Recreation and tourism are also very important parts of Oregon’s economy. A recent study by ODFW and Travel Oregon showed that fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing contributed more than $130 million in travel-generated expenditures in Clatsop and Tillamook counties in 2008.
• A more thorough scientific peer-review of these proposed changes is needed before implementation can be considered.

Meeting info: 5:30-9 p.m. Jan. 26 in Salem at the ODF headquarters, 2600 State St., in the Tillamook Room. 5:30-9 p.m. Jan. 28 at the Seaside City Hall, 989 Broadway, in the council chambers.

Send comments to Jeff Foreman
E-mail: jforeman@odf.state.or.us
Mail: 2600 State St., Salem, OR 97310
Fax: 503-945-7506

For more information:
http://thetillamook.net
Salmonberry Steward’s presentation to the timber industry: http://www.nativefishsociety.org/includes/documents/State_Forests_presentation.pdf
Proposed changes documents: http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/STATE_FORESTS/FMP2010rulemaking.shtml

Thanks,
Will Atlas