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Activist added to witness schedule By PAUL FATTIG Acting on a complaint by an environmental group, 2nd Congressional District Rep. Greg Walden has added an environmental activist to the witnesses scheduled to testify at a House agriculture subcommittee hearing Monday. The three-hour session, which begins at 9 a.m. in the council chambers of Medford City Hall, has been called to gather input on the impact of the president's Northwest Forest Plan. But a spokesman for Headwaters, an environmental coalition, had expressed concern to the Mail Tribune that the witness list was weak in environmental representation. The lone exception was Jack Shipley, former Headwaters board member and co-founder of the Applegate Partnership, the spokesman said. The subcommittee invited Tom Dimitre, a representative of the Southern Oregon Forest Coalition and Headwaters, to testify during the panel discussion. "We thought we had a witness in Mr. Shipley who has excellent environmental credentials and who, through his problem-solving work in the Applegate Partnership, was uniquely suited to participate in this hearing, because this hearing is about problem solving," Walden said. The first panel will include government agency representatives Nancy Graybeal, acting regional forester for the Forest Service; James Brown, state forester for the Oregon Department of Forestry; and representatives of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The second panel, in addition to Dimitre, will consist of community witnesses who include Sue Kupillas, a member of the Jackson County Board of Commissioners; Jeannie Weakley, a union official with the Western Council of Industrial Workers; Jennifer Phillipi, representing Rough & Ready Lumber Co. in Cave Junction; and Jack Shipley, co-founder of the Applegate Partnership. Joining Walden, R-Hood River, a member of the House Agriculture Committee, will be subcommittee chairman Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., and subcommittee member Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif. The session will focus on whether the Forest Service is achieving the goals of the plan adopted in 1994, as well as assessing whether the plan has reduced legal conflict in Oregon's federal forests, Walden said. It will also seek to identify specific steps that can be taken to better achieve those goals while further reducing legal conflict, he said. The committee will accept written testimony from anyone concerning their view of the impact of the plan for up to 10 days after the session. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA