Juniper Group Forest Goals
Lava Cast Collaborative Field Trip with Forest Service and Nature Conservancy, photo by Larry Pennington
The Juniper Group area contains six major National Forests. In each of these forests we seek to return forest
as quickly as possible to a natural long-term growth pattern that shelters
and sustains wildlife while protecting soil structural integrity. This means
ceasing logging and so-called "vegetation management" in remote areas so a natural old growth structure can return
through the natural processes of forest growth cycles and periodic fires. Where human activity is adjacent to the forests, any necessary management to reduce wildfire hazards caused by prior abuse of the forests must be done in accordance with the latest peer-reviewed science. Forest Management Plans must place a priority on supporting the needs of wildlife and biodiversity.
The priceless role forests play in watershed purity and seasonal flow
buffering must be preserved. We seek to work with Forest Service managers in a cooperative way to accomplish these objectives.
Eastside Forests Committee
In late 2009 the Oregon Chapter established an Eastside Forests Committee tasked with focusing the Sierra Club preservation efforts for those federal forests east of the Cascades Crest. These forests have issues that differ from forests in other areas of the state. The Eastside Oregon Forests Committee advocates management of these forests based on recognition of our unique eastside ecology and objectives.
The Committee’s activities focus on:
- protecting the forests from non-science-based logging and “vegetation management” projects
- preservation of mature and old growth forests
- restoration and protection of riparian areas
- maintenance of existing roadless areas
- advocacy of Forest Management Plans and Travel Management Plans that are based on ecological science, natural recreation, imperiled species recovery, and long-term forest and soil resilience
- wildlife preservation and recovery
- curtailment of harms from widespread livestock grazing
- creation of environmentally sound jobs based on forest restoration and protection
These objectives will be accomplished through:
- sponsorship of Sierra Club staff activities in the area
- active recruitment of volunteers throughout the area to be the eyes, ears, advocates, and workers on the ground
- local fundraising to support campaigns for the activities above
For more information on the goals of this committee, open the Eastside Forests Committee Mission Statement. If you would like to serve as a committee member, or as a non-member issue or geographical area advisor to the committee, contact the Chair Larry Pennington.
Oregon Chapter Forest Goals
Also read the Oregon Chapter Forests in Oregon page for statewide Sierra Club forest goals.
