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--> --> Environmentalists complain about committee appointments By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Representatives of area environmental organizations are crying foul over appointments to fill seats reserved for regional or local environmental organizations on the Medford District Bureau of Land Management's new Resource Advisory Committee. Derek Volkart, conservation coordinator for the Ashland-based environmental organization Headwaters, said members of the environmental community are concerned that individuals representing Headwaters, the World Wildlife Fund, the Rogue Group Sierra Club, the Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center or the Siskiyou Regional Education Project were not chosen for the committee. The committee will make recommendations for spending $2.5 million in federal funds for road and ecosystem improvement projects. "This isn't an attack on anyone personally. We just feel we need to be represented," said Volkart, noting that the environmental organizations represent thousands of local members. He said the BLM turned down applicants from the environmental organizations, citing, in part, their lack of ability to collaborate. Volkart said the applicants from the organizations have collaborative abilities. "We're not talking about extremists who applied," he said. But Karen Gillespie, public affairs officer for the Medford District BLM, said the residents selected to fill the seats - Howard Heiner and Howard "Jack" Shipley - have extensive natural resource expertise and demonstrated collaborative decision-making abilities. "We were looking for individuals with a history of working collaboratively with individuals, agencies and organizations. They need to be able to compromise and make decisions around contentious issues," she said. Heiner has served on the Ashland Watershed Stewardship Alliance, the City of Ashland Ad Hoc Forestry Advisory Committee and the Jackson County Resource Lands Review Committee. He is a member of the Siskiyou Chapter of the Society of American Foresters. In addition to being a forestry advisor for the United Nations, he has worked on a national certification program to aid consumers and builders in buying wood grown from environmentally-sustainable forests, according to BLM officials. Among other credentials, Shipley is a founder of the Applegate Partnership and served on Gov. John Kitzhaber's Healthy Streams Partnership Board and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, BLM officials said. Shipley was previously a member of the Headwaters board of directors, but was asked to resign by fellow members, according to Volkart. The Forest Service chose Dominick DellaSala of the World Wildlife Fund, Romain Cooper of the Siskiyou Regional Education Project and James Rogers of Friends of the Elk River for the environmental seats on its Siskiyou Resource Advisory Committee. Stephen Trout, a retired educator and Bear Creek Watershed Partnership member, was chosen for the environmental seat on the Rogue/Umpqua Resource Advisory Committee. Trout was recommended for the seat by Jackson County officials, although he had applied for a seat reserved for an educator or a member of the general public, Forest Service officials said. The two Forest Service committees will help direct about $3.4 million in spending on projects. Email your... Technical questions & comments to: WebMaster Daily Tidings editorial comments & questions to: Editor Visit our other Oregon Newspapers... | Albany Democrat-Herald | Ashland Daily Tidings | Corvallis Gazette-Times | | Lebanon Express | Newport News-Times | Springfield News | Cottage Grove Sentinel | Ashland Daily Tidings 1661 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland, OR 97520 Telephone 541-482-3456 © Copyright 2001 Lee Northwest Publishing