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SOU could get forest HQ First-of-its kind arrangement would lend itself to environmental education By PAUL FATTIG ASHLAND � It doesn�t yet have an official name, and its precise role is still being debated. Even the exact location of where it would be built � if it is built � is undecided. But a proposal to move the Ashland Ranger District headquarters to the Southern Oregon University campus is beginning to gel. Supporters envision a district office, a university classroom and a collaborative center for this community known for environmental activism. "The momentum is building � there is a lot of interest," said district ranger Linda Duffy. "This is a community that has a national forest at its back door. It�s also a community that�s contemporary in science, education and activism." Although many details are unclear, including the cost, SOU would build the facility and lease it to the Forest Service, Duffy said. Funding would come largely from grants and donations, she said. Faced with an annual lease of nearly $150,000 on its current Washington Street district office and an ever-tightening budget, the agency began looking last year for cheaper digs. University officials responded with suggestions that the agency consider SOU land in Ashland. But, instead of merely a ranger district headquarters, Duffy and others envision a collaborative experiment. If the district office is moved on campus, it will be a national first, officials say. "I think it�s a fascinating idea," said U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. "They have a chance to do some cutting-edge work." A member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee, Wyden believes it could affect the agency�s future. "One of the things I suggested was that they put together a community board, one that would include scientists from the university and environmental and timber industry leaders, and help train Forest Service superstars of the future," he said, stressing the agency would need a "good cross-section of stakeholders." A diverse group called Forest Visions has been discussing the proposal. One member is Sara Hopkins-Powell, SOU interim president. "It�s still very much at the conceptual stage," she cautioned. The proposal calls for the agency to be housed in a "green building" using materials gathered in an ecologically friendly and sustainable way, she noted. The center would house the university�s environmental studies program, she added. But the plan is far from the building stage, she reiterated. "It�s going to be a challenge to make it happen," concurred Jack Williams, supervisor of the Rogue River and Siskiyou national forests. "There�s still some uncertainty about how it would work." But that doesn�t mean it isn�t a good idea, he added. "We need to be linked more closely to the communities," he said. "The university can provide that linkage." It would also bring a needed focus on the rich biodiversity of Southern Oregon, said group member and ecologist Richard Hart of Ashland. "This is a biologically important region of the planet," Hart said, adding that the district could serve as a classroom. "The Ashland (Creek) watershed and the roadless areas � that would be your classroom," he said. "And it�s a big classroom. Fellow group member Dominick DellaSala, director of the World Wildlife Fund�s Klamath-Siskiyou Regional Program, agreed. "We want to make sure the Forest Service stays here," he said of the agency�s presence in Ashland. Like the others, he believes the facility would provide a unique opportunity. "The dominant paradigm was to use the forest to create economic revenue," he said. "The paradigm needs to be flipped." The first concern should be the health of the forest, followed by revenue, he said. "We have a foot in the old way of doing things, and a foot in the new way," Duffy explained. "It�s hard to hold both. "In Ashland, the old way doesn�t work for us." While the local project is unique, there is a nationwide effort within the agency to find new ways of doing things, Williams said. "There is a broad recognition that the kinds of solutions or approaches we had in the past aren�t adequate for today," he said. "People are looking for better way to do things." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.