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| Making the transition |
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| First community meeting revealed several desires for the Ochoco National Forest |
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 | | CONTRIBUTED PHOTO | | Jeff Walter is the Forest Supervisor for the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland. He can be reached at: jwalter@fs.fed.us. |
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Since I'm still new to the area, I'll leave discussions of "hot topics" to future articles when I have a better understanding of the issues and how they pertain to the community. For now, I'd like to take this opportunity to share a little of what I heard at a transition meeting that I attended my second week here with about fifteen key community members.
First, it was encouraging because I heard the Ochoco National Forest is important to the community of Prineville. People value the proximity to the forest and grassland and the open space and recreation opportunities that are available. They want the forest to remain here.
They also value the natural resources, but many believe there could and should be a stronger tie between management of those resources and community well being. Although the community is in transition, it's still dependent on the forest for economic benefits and family-wage jobs. Grazing and timber production on the forest and grassland are still important for both the direct and indirect economic benefits and employment opportunities.
I also heard that Prineville is a close-knit community and that people here have a true passion for the community and surrounding area. They value the Forest employees for their involvement in community activities. They encouraged myself and other employees to get involved as committee members and volunteers.
I was pleased to learn that the school district is interested in partnering with the forest to get students more informed and hopefully interested in natural resource management. We discussed getting Forest Service professionals into the classrooms and students out into the forest, with the hope that students would find future local employment opportunities. I'm anxious to explore these ideas with members of the school district in the months ahead.
Finally I heard that communication is very important. They asked for early `heads up' and community involvement on impending issues. Although I'll have to figure out the best way to accomplish that, I'm committed to making it happen.
Since the community transition meeting, I've already scheduled some follow-up visits with individuals to further understand their interests and concerns and to explore mutual benefits associated with management of the Ochoco NF. I'll also be looking in the near future at where I need to shift or add emphasis internally to better address these concerns or opportunities.
I left the meeting excited to be a part of this community and I'm looking forward to working with those of you I've met and those of you I hope to meet in the near future.
Jeff Walter is the Forest Supervisor for the Ochoco National Forest and Crooked River National Grassland. He can be reached at: jwalter@fs.fed.us. |
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