Counties in Eastern Oregon ponder forest closures
Sunday, September 28, 2008 12:15 AM PDT
BAKER CITY (AP) — Five Eastern Oregon counties are considering how road closures in the largest national forest in the Northwest could affect them.
The proposed travel management plan for the 2.4 million acre Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is expected to have both a social and economic impact on Baker, Grant, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa counties.
The U.S. Forest Service plans to publish a draft environmental impact statement next spring on potential effects of each of six alternatives under the plan. But the counties have only until Nov. 30 to report on the possible impact to their region.
‘‘The counties are coming into the process a little bit late, and I have been trying to play catch-up,’’ said Bob Messinger of Summerville, who’s representing the five counties.
Bruce Sorte, an Oregon State University Extension economist now working at Eastern Oregon University, is studying the impacts of each alternative on jobs, wages, hotel and campground occupancy, and other sectors of the economy. Baker County previously hired Sorte to help study the impacts on the designation of bull trout as a threatened species, and some of that data will be applied to the travel plan. Ken Anderson, a retired mining geologist, said he worries that a plan to close forest roads will make it even more difficult for miners to test their claims, gain approval and set up their operations.
He said that if 100 miners were allowed to mine in the Wallowa-Whitman and each found an ounce of gold per day, the financial impact figured with a multiplier effect used by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Statistical Division would be $4 million a day, ‘‘new wealth that adds to the economy.’’ Messinger said economic models, census and Oregon Employment Department data can be used to compile potential economic impacts for each of the alternatives so he is relying on counties to provide an estimate of the social impact.
‘‘It is a broad category, and it may rely on a qualitative analysis, on interviews and public input, not on numbers,’’ Messinger said. ‘‘It is lifestyle and attitude.’’
Jan Kerns, chairwoman of a Baker County advisory committee on the plan, said one example is the possible effect on families that venture into the forest annually to pick huckleberries. Those trips may not be possible without motorized access on roads to get the family to their favorite spots.
The more specific the examples, the better, Messinger said.
‘‘Are those huckleberries food in the larder, or is picking huckleberries a social event that creates family bonds?’’ he said. ‘‘Family bonding is a strong social issue.’’
The ranger of the Whitman District, who also happens to be named Ken Anderson, said that even after the draft environmental impact statement is published next spring, more alternatives for the travel plan could emerge.
‘‘If you find data that suggests we look other alternatives, that would be considered,’’ he said.
———
Information from: Baker City Herald, http://www.bakercityherald.com/
