Demand Douglas County Oregon Stop Clear-cutting our County Parks
- by: Heather Robbins-Hinton
- recipient: Douglas County Commissioners & Parks Advisory Board, Oregon
In 2015, Southern Oregon's Douglas County, the Land of the Umpqua, began clear-cutting our county parks to fund projects in other, more 'active' parks. Busenbark Park was the first park to be sacrificed and we are demanding it be the last. There are currently 3 other parks that have been classified for 'timber production' by the Parks Advisory Board. These include Sever-Iverson Memorial Park, Britt
Nichols County Park and Long Fibre County Park. Additionally there are 15 parcels of land that have been classified 'surplus property', which generally includes undeveloped/open space sites obtained from gift or foreclosure which do not have a connection to overall parks planning goals and may be used or better suited to other uses, income generation or sale.
The Douglas County Parks have a history of financial problems and have turned to logging to solve these problems in the past. In 2005, Douglas County had decided to log a portion of the Mildred Kanipe County Park to take the burden off their financial troubles. The Friends of Mildred Kanipe Memorial Park formed a 501c3 and were able to save the trees from cutting. Long Fibre is an adopted park, however, it was still categorized for timber sale.
We live in the 21st century, a century where anything is possible and solutions are not limited. Forest management no longer has to mean clear-cutting and places like Astoria, Oregon have found that money can be made from not cutting their trees and selling the carbon credits for cash. https://www.climatetrust.org/carbon-credits-astoria-sees-forest-through-trees/
Let's find a solution that preserves the integrity & biodiversity of our parks for future generations while funding the department that cares for these treasures. For more information please visit us at:
Email: FriendsofIversonPark@yahoo.com
#SAVEOREGONPARKS
To The Douglas County Commissioners & Parks Advisory Board -
This petition was created in response to your decision to sell the timber from some of our county parks. We are asking you to take a step back and put this plan on the shelf while you search for solutions that look towards innovative & sustainable options for funding all future county parks projects. This community wants to preserve our natural county parks for future generations of community members.
Sincerely,
Friends of the Iverson Park
Thank you for yours support!
Carisa Cegavske wrote an excellent article in our local paper - http://www.nrtoday.com/news/20392122-113/tensions-flare-at-meeting-on-douglas-county-parks
Please continue to share. With your help we believe we can protect our county parks.
Thank you,
Friends of Severt-Iverson Memorial Park
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