FOREST FLASH January 2022
In Pacific Forest Trust’s e-newsletter, Forest Flash, we send you the most recent PFT news and updates on forests, clean water, climate, and wildlife, no more than once or twice a month. Subscribe here.
A wildlife crossing under US-97 in Central Oregon has significantly decreased wildlife-vehicle collisions. [Photo credit: Simon Wray, ODFW]
The Cascade Siskiyou National Monument (CSNM), which lies along the Siskiyou Crest, is globally renowned for its amazing biodiversity and forests. This is the reason PFT has conserved over 11,000 acres of key lands within and around the CSNM, building a conserved corridor to the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. We continue to expand that effort, such as with our recently announced Mount Ashland Forest. The Siskiyou Crest is also a vitally important crossroads for wildlife moving both east-west and north-south (and back again). But, that wildlife must often cross Interstate 5, a renowned “kill zone” for wildlife. PFT is committed not only to restoring and conserving these wildlife habitats, but to ensuring safe passage.
PFT is working on both the Oregon and California sides of the border to create more wildlife crossings, and we’re a proud member of the recently formed Southern Oregon Wildlife Crossing Coalition. The Coalition envisions carefully-designed overcrossings and undercrossings for wildlife along I-5 between Ashland and the Oregon-California border, along with funnel fencing to guide wildlife to crossing locations. Similar passage projects have been proven successful, with wildlife vehicle collisions decreasing 90% where crossings are in place.
Building on his 2018 bill on Wildlife Corridor Action Plans, Representative Ken Helm is introducing a new bill – with support from Representative Pam Marsh of Ashland – in the upcoming short session of the Oregon Legislature to secure funding for the engineering design phase of this area’s Wildlife Corridor Action Plan. These funds can then be used as a match when Oregon’s Department of Transportation applies for the new federal Wildlife Crossing Grant Program, part of the recent federal infrastructure bill. PFT strongly supports this effort.
Water is essential for life and forests are essential for water. Forests serve as our natural water collection, storage, filtration, and delivery systems by collecting rain and snow and delivering it into streams, wet meadows, and aquifers throughout the year. Healthy forest watersheds are key for our water security, fire resiliency, flood control, and storing carbon in a rapidly changing climate. Since our inception in 1993, Pacific Forest Trust has conserved more than 300,000 acres of vital forest watersheds and developed new models, such as Healthy Watersheds California to help safeguard our water supply.
From award-winning beer and wine to agricultural and recreation and tourism, many companies in our region rely upon healthy watersheds. It’s in this spirit that Pacific Forest Trust, with support from our friends at Crystal Geyser Water Company, launched Springs for Life, an initiative to protect and restore critical forested headwaters. Through Springs for Life, Water Forest Alliance business partners work with PFT to protect and restore critical forested headwaters in the region.
In 2021, Springs for Life partner Affinity Creative designed and developed a Springs for Life website and video to help current and prospective Water Forest Alliance partners engage in our efforts to protect these watersheds. Throughout 2022, PFT will meet with current and prospective Water Forest Alliance partners to discuss opportunities to engage with Springs for Life.
PFT’s Stewardship Forester Jack Singer on our Shasta Timberlands conservation project with Campbell Global.
The majority of America’s forests are privately owned, and many of these are highly threatened. It’s this very threat that underscores the importance of PFT’s work to protect the natural resources and climate values provided by forests while providing economic value to forest owners. A key part of this is our stewardship of 35 conservation easements on more than 100,000 acres of forests in California and Oregon. Every conservation easement that we steward, just like every landowner that we partner with, is unique, and each project has an inspiring story to share. These forests represent a community’s livelihood, a business’s revenue stream, and family legacies, and we are committed to stewarding them in perpetuity.
PFT’s Stewardship team are some of our most critical “boots on the ground” and their work requires deep technical skills in modeling, imagery and mapping while the fun part is working with landowners on problem solving, often walking the land together. With over 100,000 acres to cover every year, that’s a lot of care and time we invest in upholding our part of the partnership we have with landowners large and small. Our focus on detail and quality conservation was recognized in November 2021 when the Land Trust Accreditation Commission renewed PFT’s accredited status for the third time. PFT is committed to both our landowners and our forests, building on that legacy well into the future.
Give with confidence. Charity Navigator awarded Pacific Forest Trust a perfect score in finance and accountability.