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LA GRANDE — It is an issue for which there is often agreement on even in today’s polarized world.




Drought and forest management practices which limit tree thinning are among the major reasons blamed by many forestry experts for the increase in large wildfires in the west.




Jon Patterson, Sumpter resident, believes another potential factor is being overlooked — restrictions on livestock grazing in forest areas. Patterson said he is convinced that wildfires are more common today and burn hotter because there are more grasses and other vegetation in forests since fewer livestock including cattle and sheep are consuming it due to increasing grazing restrictions, limits once much less stringent than decades ago. Vegetation once consumed by livestock, Patterson said, now helps ignite fires.




“It is like kindling,’’ Patterson said at a public meeting of the Blues Intergovernmental Council on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Eastern Oregon University.




The Blues Intergovernmental Council meeting was one of a series it is conducted in Northeast Oregon to get input from the public on how it thinks the U.S. Forest Service’s next revised forest management plan for the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur nationals forests should be developed. The management plan the three national forests now operate under was written in 1990. An attempt to create a new plan started about a decade ago. However, the development of Blue Mountains Forest Plan, for which a large draft was written, was shut down in 2018 before it could be finalized after receiving a negative reception from many people in Northeast Oregon.

The many things the creators of the Blue Mountains Forest Plan were criticized for included the limited number of opportunities they provided for people in Northeast Oregon to provide meaningful input on its development.




“There was a lack of community engagement,’’ said Union County Commissioner Paul Anderes, one of about 40 members of the Blues Intergovernmental Council, also known as BIC.




Todd Nash, a member of the Wallowa County Board of Commissioners and BIC, noted that the plan, which was shelved, was not made available to the public and elected officials until the process was too far along. He said that county commissioners in Northeast Oregon did not get to see the draft about a week before the public did.




“We do not want to get blindsided again,’’ Nash said.




The Blues Intergovernmental Council was created to provide the U.S. Forest Service with guidelines for addressing concerns expressed by the public when it creates another forest plan for the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur national forests. The council is composed of elected officials, representatives of natural resource organizations and others. The purpose of BIC was discussed in depth at much of the Nov. 1 meeting.




Input from the public, like that expressed by Patterson, was also taken at the meeting. issues like maintaining access to forest land was often brought up by those giving public. One resident of Baker County spoke of how he enjoys taking people visitors to an old mine near his home, one once enormously productive. He said he fears that a forest plan with too many restrictions on access would make it impossible to continue giving these tours.

Members of BIC also discussed what they wanted the new forest management plan to address. Wallowa County Commissioner Susan Roberts said forest health is a concern she wants the future plan to address. She wants to see forests opened up so that there is not a large build up of vegetation.which can make it hard for firefighters to get through in an emergency. She also said reducing forest density would prevent fires from getting so hot that they scorch the earth to he point that everything it touches is destroyed and the earth is burned to the point that nothing will grow in it.




“We want our forests to be fire resistant and resilient,’’ Roberts said.




Roberts said she also wants to make sure that the next forest plan allows for the airfields in Northeast Oregon’s forests remain open because they could save lives in an aviation emergency.




“Landing strips are a real safety issue. I want to keep these airfields open,’’ Roberts said.




She also said they provide a good place for helicopters to land.




Shaun McKinney, forest supervisor of the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, s

and a BIC member, said it will take two to three years to create an updated forest plan once the process is started. McKinney said he is delighted with the opportunity the public is being provided. to give input.




“The emphasis on community involvement means that more decisions will be made locally,’’ McKinney said.