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Lomakatsi, NW Forest Worker Center earn grants Monday Dec 12, 2016 at 12:01 AM Local report Nonprofit organizations Lomakatsi Restoration Project and the Northwest Forest Worker Center have received awards from Meyer Memorial Trust involving ecosystem restoration and forest work. An award of $200,000 to Lomakatsi will support building the organization’s capacity to expand its model of economic development and ecological restoration to support more communities. An award of $105,000 to the Northwest Forest Worker Center will support the center’s efforts over the next three years to reduce the exposure of forest workers to environmental hazards by training forest workers to recognize, avoid and abate on-the-job hazards. The award will also help the Northwest Forest Center build the capacity of forest worker communities to have a voice in forest decisions and public policies that directly affect them. Marko Bey, who is Lomakatsi's executive director and president of the Northwest Forest Worker Center Board of Directors noted in a release that Lomakatsi Restoration Project was founded by forest workers 20 years ago and has worked for forest worker rights and well-being since the organization was established. “Meyer Memorial Trust’s investment in building Lomakatsi’s capacity will allow us to bring our economic model of restoring ecosystems and the sustainability of communities and cultures to tribal and rural communities throughout Oregon," Bey said. "The fact that the Northwest Forest Workers Center was also granted an award further deepens our appreciation of Meyer Memorial Trust’s commitment to equity and inclusion for all Oregonians.” Jobs carried out by restoration workers include planting trees along streams and clear-cuts, pulling invasive weeds and thinning dense, fire-suppressed forests. Both organizations have worked to combat the abuse of forest workers and sub-standard working conditions. The Northwest Forest Workers Center’s Promotora Program employs women from the forest worker community in Medford to train forest workers in preventing on-the-job injuries and educate them about their rights. Lomakatsi’s partnership with tribal communities as well as its 40-person technical and on-the-ground workforce has focused on forest worker training and building the range of skills of forest workers since Lomakatsi was founded. “The fair treatment of forest workers is core to successful ecological forestry,” Carl Wilmsen, executive director of the Northwest Forest Worker Center and a Lomakatsi board member, said in a release. “The support of Meyer Memorial Trust in strengthening our training program and building the voice of forest workers in forest management decisions benefits everyone. ... Workers are out on the land every day. It only makes sense to include them in decisions and policy making.”