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The Lakeview Federal Stewardship Group – Helping to save a Forest and a Community

In 1996, the second-to-last sawmill in Paisley, Oregon, shut down.

Established in 1950, the Lakeview Sustained Yield Unit (SYU) helped support the local economy for nearly 40 years. Times had changed however; community leaders questioned whether the 495,000 acre SYU, land designated for management to provide timber-industry jobs for small communities in the area, still served its purpose.

In 1998 community leaders in Lake County with assistance from Sustainable Northwest, gathered and decided the purpose of the SYU may have changed but its reason for being still existed. Through a series of discussions between 1998 and 2001 with a cross section of interests, they decided to refocus and revitalize the SYU that once sustained the traditional forest and ranching industries. Instead of shutting it down, they proposed cooperation with the environmental community to save both jobs and the forest.

Commissioner Jane O’Keefe (1998): “Why are we hosting this ambitious gathering? Because rural communities and environmental communities must come to terms with each other, and there’s no better place to start than right here in Lakeview.”

It took until January 2001 before Lake County successfully gained reauthorization approval of the 495,000 acre SYU and it was renamed the Lakeview Federal Stewardship Unit. The combination of community leadership and the resources of “Sustainable Northwest” led a collaborative approach toward success, avoiding conflict and possible litigation.

Accomplishments

An editorial in the Oregonian (5/12/03) probably said it best: “Earlier this spring, the Lakeview Stewardship Group (LSG) issued its first progress report…. The Forest Service closed 120 miles of unneeded road, thinned and burned more than 13,000 acres, and spent or allocated more than $1.3 million for forest restoration projects in 2001-2001. This resulted in improvements to the forest ecosystem and jobs in forest restoration for Lake County residents…. The forest was better than it was and the economy in Lakeview and Paisley and nearby communities was better than it would have been otherwise. Beyond that, the project brought together local folks and environmentalists… in common cause.

The goals for the SYU became:

• Sustain and restore a healthy, diverse and resilient forest ecosystem that can accommodate human and natural disturbances.
• Sustain and restore the land’s capacity to absorb, store and distribute quality water.
• Provide opportunities for people to realize their material, recreational and spiritual values and relationship with the forest.

A monitoring program was developed, funded through Rural Assistance Community grants that employed local high school and college students.

The LSG has helped local contractors prepare for future contracting opportunities, which would include forest restoration work. The results have increased dollars going to local contractors from $95,000 in 2001 to $410,000 in 2002.

The Lakeview Stewardship Group has also been active in developing alternative uses for small wood products and instrumental in developing a feasibility study for a cogeneration plant in Lake County that would utilize forest material of no economic value but would provide jobs for local workers.

For more information contact on the story, interested readers should contact Karen Shimamoto, Forest Supervisor, Fremont and Winema National Forests, 541-947-6201 (Lakeview Office) or 541-883-6736 (Klamath Falls Office).

Also visit the Red Lodge Clearinghouse for more information on the Lakeview Federal Stewardship Group.