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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us January 12, 2006 at length National policy on logging is at hand By Melissa Schweisguth Ashland The newly released OSU research on the Biscuit Fire area (Jan. 5), which reported markedly better regrowth and fire resiliency in plots left untouched versus those where salvage logging and replanting occurred, is significant and timely in its policy implications. The integrity of the study is underscored by the fact that it was undertaken by independent researchers who were themselves taken aback by the robustness of the results. Oregon Rep. Greg Walden, R-Hood River, and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., recently introduced parallel bills in congress that would push immediate salvage logging in national forests after fires, while bypassing public input, endangered species laws and sufficient environmental review. Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.Mex., has brought forth an alternative calling for more careful courses of action based on science and community involvement. Oregonians can steer national policy in the right direction by contacting our legislators to oppose the Walden and Smith bills, and support the Udall bill. Sen. Walden has referenced the Biscuit area to justify his bill, arguing that postponing logging increased fire risk and impaired forest health. Given that the researchers found the contrary — and indeed saw that logging and replanting left lands at higher fire risk — it is clear that the Walden and Smith bills are surefire formulas for devastation. Past research also shows that salvage logging degrades water quality through increased runoff, encourages invasive plants and threatens endangered species. Post-fire activities must be outlined individually, heeding comprehensive study, science and natural history. Approved plans must allow for public monitoring to prevent irreversible errors such as the unauthorized logging of 17 acres in the Babyfoot Botanical area, which occurred when the Fiddler area was logged while closed to public access. Our national forests are publicly owned. They are the richest havens of biodiversity and the sources of many watersheds. Unprincipled salvage logging will deny the public's right to self determination while threatening these ecological treasures. Balanced forest management will maintain healthy forests, air, water and communities. This approach will also ensure good jobs through publicly approved thinning, managing old growth preservation, expanding wood and paper infrastructure for recycled and recreation. The OSU research and the Walden and Smith bills have made Oregon the center of national forest policy. We can lead the nation toward truly responsible and beneficial forest management by asking our legislators to oppose Walden and Smith’s bills and support reasoned approached like the Udall bill. When did downtown become a problem? By John Davis Ashland When I think of downtowns with problems, I think of downtowns with a declining business base, shuttered storefronts and abandoned empty lots full of trash. I think of uncontrollable graffiti, street crime, aggressive drug dealers and abandoned and stripped cars. When I think of downtowns with problems I think of grid-locked traffic at rush hour, narrow, crumbling and litter-filled sidewalks. When I think of downtowns with problems I think of gum stuck to the bottom of my shoe. A comment made in the recent meeting of the Down-town Planning Committee caught my ear. When asked if everyone was in agreement with what they wanted to achieve, Councilman Jack Hardesty responded, “If you can tell me what it is (we are trying to achieve), I might be in agreement with it.” Isn’t this the same as saying that it is difficult to agree on a course of action to fix something without knowing what is broken? The remainder of the meeting was basically an airing of issues such as closing the Plaza area to auto traffic to make it more of a pedestrian mall, which is a solution in search of a problem, not a problem in search of a solution. I guess the inability of the committee to move forward is a function of its inability to come up with any really serious problems to solve. While I haven’t always found a parking space in front of Bloomsbury Books when I wanted one, I have usually found one around the corner or even a few blocks away and, as I have yet to be mugged in downtown Ashland, I have not minded the walk. I also walk to work, frequently going through the downtown, and I have yet to fall into an unmaintained storm drain or been run over by a car while crossing the street or been bonked on the head by a brick from a crumbling storefront or been bitten by a junkyard dog. I have never been delayed while driving through the downtown except when it was being repaved and improved so that I wouldn’t be delayed while driving through the downtown. I can’t imagine how closing off the Plaza to cars, or diverting traffic down Hersey Street, or changing the proportion of commercial to residential space, or including the Railroad District in the plan or even spending $15,000 “to define the parameters of the process,” is going to enhance or improve an already well-defined, clean, well-lighted, safe and downright beautiful place. And on-street parking is free! I’m sure the Downtown Plan Committee means well, but before anybody breaks anything that isn’t broken I would hope that any proposed solutions result from real problems. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams