Tremendous urban growth, and renewed awareness of our natural resources have people looking to forests for watershed protection, biological diversity, ecological integrity and recreation. The challenge is to find ways to provide these and still produce products. Foresters are being asked not to be just managers and producers of forest products, but also curators of the rare, the fragile, the beautiful. There is growing public awareness that clean, pure water may not always be there when we turn the tap. Large watershed restoration projects are more than maintaining and stabilizing stream channels.
Trees are key to watershed functions.
We are applying additional attention towards the impact of timber contracts on the land down stream. Planners review the use of naturally occurring fires as a management tool. In Oregon's Blue Mountain Ecosystem, we believe we can show a variety of both active and passive tools to accomplish fundamental restoration goals of clean, safe water and vigorous, healthy populations of aquatic and terrestrial species. These tools will provide restoration related jobs to communities as well as forest by-products. Here is an opportunity to address the millions of acres at risk for fire, endangered species, and exotic weeds.