Timber for road closures

A new process is working its way throughout Eastern Oregon that pits locals against each other. It is the concept of “forest health vs. motorized access.” The model has been seen in the West before. Idahoans and Montanans have seen forests build to unsafe fuel loads with eager “conservationists” willing to plan projects that will relieve the burden of the excessive fuels — only if we are willing to destroy roads after the projects are completed. The work is done through service contracts. Companies bid on these contracts to implement prescriptions for treatment that are written by the Forest Service, along with road destruction.

Two examples playing out in Eastern Oregon that show this process are 1) The Grant County Stewardship Contract, a massive, multi-million dollar, single-source contract to Iron Triangle that will treat vegetation and restrict motorized access to thousands of acres of land; and 2) the East Face Project between La Grande and Baker, which is planning 38 miles of road closures.