Ashland and the Rogue River

• Author: Environmental Law Institute
• Pages: 20-20

20 NEPA Success Stories

is case demonstrates that when an agency un-

dertakes an action that raises concerns within a

community, NEPA provides the public and other

agencies an opportunity to put forward proposed

improvements.

e city of Ashland, in southern Oregon, is sur-

rounded by 14,500 acres of the Rogue River-Siski-

you National Forest and another 1,000 contiguous

forest acres owned by the city. Besides being home to

a Research Natural Area, isolated roadless area, and

signicant botanical diversity, the forest is also essen-

tial to the protection of the city’s drinking water.

In 1998, the U.S. Forest Service (FS) proposed the

HazRed Project, which had the objective of main-

taining a healthy water supply for the community

and expanding the existing fuel break, a ridgeline

cleared of trees. e project proposed logging large

re resilient trees as much as three feet in diameter

within the watershed, and selling the resulting four

million board feet of lumber.

After reviewing the proposal, the community of

Ashland raised concerns about the impact of the

proposed logging on their water quality. Several

groups and individuals appealed the project. A di-

verse group of residents formed the Ashland Water-

shed Stewardship Alliance, which met twice a week

for six months. e alliance included representatives

from the mayor’s oce, small-business owners, forest

workers, members of the Society of American Forest-

ers, environmental groups, and other concerned

citizens.

In December 2000, the FS published a Draft Envi-

ronmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the logging

and timber sale. During the public comment period

for the DEIS, the Alliance took advantage of NEPA’s

public engagement opportunities and produced a

95-page alternate proposal. is alternate proposal

became the basis for the development of an alterna-

tive that was approved by the FS and included in

the Final EIS that was published in May 2001. e

alternative included treatment methods to improve

community wildre protection through the thin-

ning of small diameter trees and brush but left larger

diameter, re-resistant trees. e alternative also

created local jobs through labor-intensive manual

brush-cutting, small tree thinning, and controlled

burning. Furthermore, the manual treatments would

be done directly within the Wildland Urban Inter-

face zone near homes and community infrastructure,

and in areas proposed for understory control burn-

ing within the interior of the watershed.

Because of NEPA, the public became involved in the

Ashland Watershed Protection Project and helped

improve the project. NEPA’s requirement that a

range of alternatives be considered provided the

community of Ashland with an opportunity to pro-

pose an alternative that addressed the community’s

needs and concerns, and allowed the FS to move

forward with public support as the public and the FS

were able to work together to collaboratively develop

a forest management plan.

For more information, contact:

Joseph Vaile

Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands Center

joseph@kswild.org

541-488-5789

ASHLAND, OREGON AND THE ROGUE RIVER —

SISKIYOU NATIONAL FOREST WATERSHED PROTECTION PROJECT

NEPA ALLOWS COMMUNITIES TO PROPOSE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS