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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend October 4, 2005 Nursery loses more than half its staff By PARIS ACHEN Mail Tribune After a 15-year decline in the demand for tree seedlings and saplings used in reforestation, the U.S. Forest Service’s J. Herbert Stone Nursery in Central Point has slashed its staff by more than half. The elimination of 17 positions through retirements, buyouts and reassignments has left the nursery with a skeleton staff of 14. "What we are doing with the staff reduction is bringing our income in line with our expenditures, so we can continue to stay open," said Ken Wearstler, nursery manager. The majority of the retirees and reassigned left the nursery Friday. Others retired earlier in the year. Many of them have been at the nursery since it opened in the 1970s. "Initially when I was put on the (elimination) list, I was angry," said 54-year-old Johan Visser, the nursery’s former greenhouse manager. "At this point in my career, I was so close to retirement anyway if they had waited another year I would have been gone, so why not respect me? I think a lot of people felt that way." Advertisement Bruce Bristo, the storage and distribution coordinator, was also forced to retire after a 27-year career at the nursery. He, Visser and others were paid $25,000 as an incentive to retire before their time. "I was going to retire at the end of the year, so it was just a windfall for me," Bristo said. "The cutbacks were necessary because the nursery was in the red, and it had to be done." Forest Service officials said the nursery is a dramatic example of a trend in the agency in the aftermath of diminished timber harvests caused by a heightened focus on protecting threatened and endangered species. The agency’s timber harvest has declined by 80 percent since 1990, said Rex Holloway, a Forest Service regional spokesman. "You need less seedlings because you have fewer forests to regenerate," Holloway said. Since 1990, the number of Forest Service nurseries has decreased from 13 to six, Wearstler said. The Central Point nursery, at 2606 Old Stage Road, opened in the 1970s with the sole purpose of producing conifers to replace those that were logged. The 300-acre nursery supplies trees and plants for reforestation and restoration projects largely in Oregon and Washington, though some plants are distributed throughout the West. At its peak in 1990, it yielded 30 million trees per year, Wearstler said. This year, it will put out about 7 million, he said. The nursery’s annual income declined from $6 million to $2 million during the same period, he said. "In hindsight, something should have been done a long time ago, and it wasn’t because the agency is slow to change," he said. "But (the deficit) had become a crisis. We couldn’t continue to operate with the cost of the number of people who worked here." When federal laws set aside reserves for mature and old- growth forests, the nursery’s focus shifted to producing native plant species to restore habitat for endangered species. The hope was that producing native plant species would help replace the income lost from the declining demand for conifers, but that never materialized, Wearstler said. "Native species haven’t generated the income because the projects are short-term, and the amount of plant material is small," he said. Some of the native species projects will likely be discontinued at the nursery, he said. Federal land agencies will have to draw from the private sector to obtain native plants needed for restoration efforts, he said. Reach reporter Paris Achen at 776-4496 or e-mail Nursery loses more than half its staff ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Online Casino Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Advertisement s