This week Stimson Lumber Company started a new clearcut directly above Wheeler, Oregon. Several volunteers from North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection suggested we organize an informational picket along Highway 101 in downtown Wheeler.
An informational picket will be held at 12:00 noon, SATURDAY JANUARY 11, 2020. We will meet on the west corner of Highway 101 and Rorvik St. in Wheeler. (That’s near the railroad track. Long-range weather maps show that only light showers are forecast then.) This event can be accomplished fairly simply, similarly to the way we organized, on short notice, the Hug Point/Arcadia Beach rally against the Norriston Heights proposed clearcutting. We just need enthusiastic people, some eye-catching signs, and handouts with a statement of our concerns.
Please join us! There are already a few people who have committed to being there. Please let us know if you can help organize or participate in this event. Everyone is to be peaceful, non-violent, and respectful, as always.
Here are some things you can do to help. (If you have any other ideas, they are welcome.)
1. Show up as a participant on the day of the event to make it known that clearcut logging is taking place on the steep hillsides above Wheeler. This is the most important thing you can do.
2. If possible, make some large, colorful, and factual informational signs to hold up so that passersby can read them. Use your imagination and make them eye-catching. One idea is to mention that clearcutting of trees is a contributing factor to global climate change. Here are some more ideas: “No Clearcuts! No Smoke! No Pesticide Spraying! No Landslides! No Oso, Washington!”
3. Print and post around the North Oregon Coast the attached flyer. Or email the flyer to other people you know so that they can attend this informational picket.
Here’s some additional information:
There’s a new clearcut above Wheeler, Oregon. Just drive by Wheeler and look up, you can’t miss it. Wheeler has already had years of extensive logging on the steep, slide-prone slopes bordering residential areas. Please checkout Wheeler on the Oregon Statewide Landscape Information Maps at https://gis.dogami.oregon.gov/maps/slido/ . This SLIDO mapping lists the adjacent hills behind Wheeler as a red zone, meaning “very high susceptibility to landslides.” Logging has already taken place in Wheeler’s watershed that has streams listed as “fish-bearing.” This past logging may have been a contributing factor causing this watershed to no longer be an adequate source of safe and abundant municipal drinking water. Stimson, the owner of the land, requested and received from the Oregon Department of Forestry a waiver from the normal 15-day waiting period for logging activity on this 97-acre clearcut which has a stream running through it. Stimson has already started cutting the trees this week. THIS IS RIGHT ABOVE WHEELER! Remember the landslide that buried Oso, Washington a few years ago after clearcutting of the adjacent hills. Urgent: Call Stimson and ask them to, please, not clearcut the last remaining forest above the town of Wheeler! (See phone number below.) This cut borders the Zimmerman Creek area which is eagle-nesting habitat. It will eventually be sprayed with pesticides and rodenticides, endangering our health and the viability of wildlife. Checkout FERNS for more information about this and other timber management activities near you.. https://ferns.odf.oregon.gov/E-Notification/noap/101215?View=Summary
Contact Stimson and your elected officials, and write letters to and contact the news media.
To express your concerns about this clearcutting, call Scott Gray, Director of Western Resources for Stimson, Oregon/ Western Washington, Office phone: 503-359-3413 Mobil phone: 503-702-2008, sgray@stimsonlumber.com
Advice from a Raindrop
You think you’re too small
to make a difference? Tell me
about it. You think you’re
helpless, at the mercy of forces
beyond your control? Been there.
Think you’re doomed to disappear,
just one small voice among millions?
That’s no weakness, trust me. That’s
your wild card, your trick, your
implement. They won’t see you coming
until you’re there, in their faces, shining,
festive, expendable, eternal. Sure you’re
small, just one small part of a storm that
changes everything. That’s how you win,
my friend, again and again and again.
—Kim Stafford
Our name, North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection (formerly known as Rockaway Beach Citizens for Watershed Protection), reflects our working together on a regional basis to insure that the air we breathe and the water we drink are safe.
For more information about the upcoming event, contact North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection at rockawaycitizen.water@gmail.com
https://healthywatershed.org/https://healthywatershed.org/https://healthywatershed.org/
https://www.facebook.com/rockawaybeachcitizens
https://www.facebook.com/rockawaybeachcitizens
This event organized by North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection
Join us, speak up, and get involved!
Everyone is invited to a North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection working-group meeting on Monday, January 13, 2020, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at St. Mary by the Sea, 275 S. Pacific St, in Rockaway Beach, Oregon.
Let’s use this meeting to brainstorm about current and upcoming projects that could benefit from our immediate attention. Working-group meetings are for all folks who want to be part of the information sharing, action, and strategy planning of NCCWP, or who want to help host our monthly educational events. Let me know if you have any questions or additional agenda items. Betsy McMahon,betmcmahon@yahoo.com, will be facilitating this meeting.
