Standing up for the importance of active forest management was the big fight of Giesy’s life, and his unwavering sincerity and dogged persistence, coupled with a frank and friendly demeanor, earned him a hefty measure of respect among many of the people engaged in shaping Oregon timber policy — including some who strongly disagreed with his positions.
As Zybach recalled it, “His saying was, ‘The trick is that when you tell somebody to go to hell, it’s in a way that they enjoy the journey.’”
These quotes came from a Corvallis-Gazette Times, August 12, 2019 Bennet Hall article: http://www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/History/Giesy/Gazette-Times/Hall_20190813/index.html
Wayne is also memorialized by Dr. Zybach in a Fall 2019 Oregon Fish & Wildlife Journal article: http://www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/References/Academic/OR_Fish_&_Wildlife/Zybach_20190923.pdf
And by Jim Petersen, Evergreen Magazine, on September 28, 2019: http://www.orww.org/Awards/2013/SAF/Wayne_Giesy/News_Articles/Petersen_20190928.pdf
This page contains an alternative management plan for the Elliott State Forest that was written by Wayne Giesy and Bob Zybach in 2017. This management plan has grown more important and relevant with the passage of time. The contrast between the ORWW Giesy Plan described below and the OSU Elliott Research Forest Plan could not be more profound. Here are a couple of key differences:
The OSU Plan would lock up two-thirds of the forest permanently for no compelling scientific reason. In contrast, the Giesy Plan would hold more than sixty percent of the forest in reserve for twenty years to provide a control area that can be contrasted with the actively managed area. Then, after twenty years, the Giesy Plan's results would be evaluated by the next generation so management could be adjusted as appropriate, based on actual management experience and scientific experimental findings.
The OSU Plan would require at least $1 billion in funding to "decouple" the Elliott State Forest from the School Trust. In contrast, the Giesy Plan doesn't require any funding and would immediately begin earning significant income for the Common School Fund and all Oregon's schoolchildren. It would also produce 400+ rural jobs and related tax revenues for local Coos and Douglas counties and communities.
http://www.orww.org/Elliott_Forest/Research/Giesy_Plan/
Under the ORWW Giesy Plan Alternative proposal, the Elliott State Forest would be managed as the “Elliott State Educational Forest” for a 20-year period for the specific purposes of:
Producing legally mandated income for the Common School Fund from younger seed trees and plantations;
Creating 400+ steady local jobs;
Conducting long-term public research to test competing methods of forest management;
Focusing on recovery and enhancement of four major coho runs in Elliott subbasins;
Monitoring and maintaining water quality of Elliott streams;
Improving forest-based educational and recreational opportunities for Oregon citizens;
Maintaining and improving old-growth habitat conditions for marbled murrelets, spotted owls, and other species favoring old-growth habitat on more than one-half of the Elliott.
Riparian Lands. Under the ORWW Giesy Plan, riparian areas could be managed by local Tribes with a specific focus on coho recovery -- particularly Tenmile Lakes coho -- water quality, public access, research, education, and potential development of commercial recreational uses.
School Fund Lands. Similarly, the economic-based management of select forested subbasins and ridgeline roads could be transparently and profitably managed for purposes of public access, recreation, research, education, and generating revenues for Oregon Schools.
Old-Growth Lands. Subbasins dedicated to old-growth habitat could be collaboratively managed by a coalition of organizations who have filed suits during the past regarding management of the Elliott State Forest for listed species, including marbled murrelets and spotted owls. The opportunity to clearly and openly demonstrate – and compare -- their desired management approaches and outcomes would be in exchange for agreeing not to file additional legal suits regarding the Elliott during the proposed 20-year public management experiment.
Giesy Plan, Map 1: Elliott forest subbasins map.
Giesy Plan, Map 2: Historic tribes and native coho runs map.
During the past three decades the Pacific Northwest has been involved in the “Timber Wars”: pitting loggers, their families, and traditional forestry practices against lawyers, federal agencies, and the Endangered Species Act (ESA) near its center. In that time the Elliott State Forest has become a victim of this conflict, having gone from a forest successfully managed to generate annual income for the Oregon School Fund to an unprofitable holding on the verge of being sold.
This proposal is to consider implementing a slightly modified version of the “Giesy Plan” in order to transparently demonstrate the value of such an approach in managing public forestlands. In this proposal the Elliott State Forest would continue in State ownership: it would be actively managed for a minimum 20-year period for Oregon School Fund income, but also be used for important short- and long-term forest management research and education opportunities with significant national forest management implications.
Former Department of State Lands Director, Jim Paul, has been quoted as saying: “The debate is by no means over, there’s a real conflict here that’s hard to reconcile.” We believe this proposal directly addresses this conflict in a scientific manner that directly benefits Oregon citizens, its schools and schoolchildren for an entire generation.
In today’s notes for the December 13, 2016 State Land Board Meeting, Governor Brown is quoted in the final paragraph as saying:
"Governor Brown said that it is appropriate for the Board to have another option . . . and that she calls upon the public to use their creativity, passion and time to pursue options for the Elliott that will craft a solution that will balance public ownership, rural natural resources jobs, conservation and recreational values . . . She said she is adamant about creating jobs, particularly in Coos and Douglas Counties, maintaining public access and preserving endangered species and their habitat. She told the audience that this is their opportunity to bring another option forward and encouraged thoughtful collaboration among everyone."
The proposed “Giesy Plan Alternative” would keep the Elliott in State hands and, first and foremost, immediately result in dozens of full-time local jobs, both direct and indirect; it would promote and enhance public recreational opportunities for the entire forest; it would provide more than 35,000 acres dedicated solely to spotted owls, marbled murrelets and old-growth habitat; it would focus on improving all four native coho runs; and it would scientifically, publicly, transparently – and profitably -- make clear to an entire generation of Oregon students, teachers, and interested citizens what the key differences and quantified results are when managing a forest for profit vs. managing it for old-growth habitat. This plan would also provide an excellent demonstration of potential management options of other publicly-owned forests in the western US.
The basic purpose of this plan would be to publicly demonstrate, document, and quantify the economic and ecological advantages and disadvantages of differing forest management philosophies. Intended audiences and participants for implementing this proposal include Oregon students, teachers, interested citizens, elected officials, and federal land managers.
As a general background, the Giesy Plan is a long-standing and well-known proposal by forester Wayne Giesy for better managing federal forestlands in the western US. This idea has been seriously discussed at high levels in recent years by elected officials and forest industry representatives. Prior to his unexpected resignation, it was being strongly considered for introduction (as the “Oregon Plan”) by Governor John Kitzhaber, Chair, to the 2015 Western Governor’s Conference: www.ORWW.org/Awards/2013/SAF/Wayne_Giesy/Oregon_Plan
Divide the 80,000+ acres of the Elliott State Forest into 24-30 forested subbasins of 1,000 to 5,000 acres each (see Map 1), with contiguous polygons outlining the fish-bearing streams, floodplains, and riparian roads as a separate consideration (Map 2). The forested subbasins would be evenly divided by acreage into two categories:
Active forest management for maximum State School Fund income, as originally described by law, and
Old-growth wildlife habitat, with a focus on listed ESA species.
The excluded riparian areas would be managed separately, as a third category, for native fish, freshwater, recreation, and road access.
Each of these three divisions would be closely monitored by Oregon students and educators for a 20-year period, with specific focuses on economics, aesthetics, wildlife populations, recreational uses, and wildfire mitigation. Field trips and student research projects would be encouraged, and the entire forest and these topics would be closely monitored and documented by modern technical means with all observations and findings transparently shared via Internet.
All existing ridgeline and riparian roads would remain open to public access, with some daily and/or seasonal restrictions due to maintenance, repair, recreational events, or harvesting actions;
More than 40% of the land would be dedicated to old-growth forest habitat, and entire 100% of the forest would provide excellent habitat for a wide range of native forest wildlife species;
More than 40% of the land would be managed for maximum short-term and long-term revenue to the Oregon School Fund;
All of the Forests’ subbasins would be scientifically and transparently monitored so that the general public, in addition to Oregon students and teachers, could directly participate in -- and benefit by -- comprehensive economic and ecological analyses of the differing management approaches and results: www.ORWW.org/Wildfires/Biscuit/Civic_Science;
Litigation regarding the management of the forest would be banned for 20 years, by legal and political agreement, while this educational management experiment takes place.
Assuming this proposal is adopted, at the end of 20 years Oregon would have a very well informed citizenry, capable of making expert decisions regarding Elliott Forest management in following years; as well as able to help make better informed plans regarding management of regional federal forests from the start.
The Giesy Plan provides immediate income to schools (in which guided students might invest long-term as part of their learning experience?), immediate jobs for the local community, and real-life research and educational opportunities monitoring and documenting the three separate management approaches and decisions being made on the students’ “own” forestlands.
A letter of support for the Giesy Plan, handwritten by Jerry Phillips, who spent almost his entire career as a forester and forest manager on the Elliott from 1956 until his retirement in 1989.
Feb. 9, 2017
Hello Bob,
Thank you for sharing with me your proposal.
It should be well received by the State Land Board and be carefully considered.
It would be welcomed by individuals who are open to scientifically based plan, thoughtfully presented.
It especially appeals to those of us who are drawn to the concept of a working forest, as are you and I.
The problem, Bob, is that the decision, will almost certainly, will be based much more on emotion and populist thinking than on science or education or economics.
Sad but, I'm afraid, true.
Would I support it? Yes.
Does it make good sense in the lights of practicality, science, education & economics? Definitely yes. ...
Good luck with this!
Your friend -- Jerry Phillips