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Home My WebLink About2009-0818 Documents Submitted ftJ~ f/lf/OCj f/)J~ ~a.v 08/18/09 Ashland City Council Council Members: I have lived in this town for nearly 40 years. I have like most people who live here enjoyed the ambiance and geography of the town. Over the years many changes have occurred, some positive and some not so positive. Currently, I feel that we have come to point, where in the name of progressiveness and tolerance, our town has ceded to the desires of a vocal minority, on more than one issue. In particular, tonight the council is asked to reconsider its current ordinance on allowing public nudity. Allowing public nudity anywhere in our town is not an indication of tolerance, but rather intolerance; by forcing the will of a small number upon the general population. In a society where a modicum of modesty is the norm, I can think of no reason an individual would choose to parade oneself publicly nude, than to simply draw attention to oneself This is not a matter of individual rights. Our state's constitution guarantees the freedom of expression. Modem interpretation of the constitution by the state courts have allowed pornography and situating of businesses in areas that are offensive to the general public. This and other forms of "expression", I can imagine were not anywhere close to the minds of the original writers of our state's charter or our Federal Constitution for that matter. Our City's current ordinance on public nudity has been construed by a few to mean that complete public nudity is, not only allowed outside of our commercial districts and parks, but indeed has been encouraged by our own police. 10.44.012 Public Nudity It is unlawful for any person to expose his or her genitalia while in the C-I-D (Downtown Commercial) zone or in a public park. This provision is not intended to apply to a person who is prepubescent or who has taken steps to create an envelope of privacy upon their own property and the nudity occurs within that envelope. (ORD 2908 2004) I would petition the council to amend our Municipal code to prohibit complete public nudity anywhere within our city, except as the code currently states in as it applies to prepubescent persons or in an area upon their own property within an envelope of pnvacy. I would ask that you do this for the protection of our children and to extend the preservation of our downtown area to the entire city in order that we maintain the desirable ambiance that so rnany of our visitors enjoy and has made Ashland the destination that is it. I would also ask that this be done for the benefit of the general citizenry of our lovely town. Thank you, Chris Adams 955 Pinecrest Terrace Ashland, Or Upcoming Events: FIELD TRIPS Join a field trip to learn about AFR, forests, and monitoring in the watershed. Led by Marty Main, forester, City of Ashland. Trips start at 9am and return by 1 pm. Bring a sack lunch, water and hiking shoes. To register, contact Chris Cham- bers at 552-2066 or cham- berc@ashland.or.us Thursday, August 20th Saturday, August 22nd Saturday, September 12th BROWN BAG LUNCH The Southern Oregon Land Conservancy wili host a lunch time talk on AFR by Darren Borgias, program manager and ecologist for The Nature Conservancy. Contact Diane Garcia at 482-3069 for more information Thursday, September 17th Noon. Ashland Community Center STAKEHOLDER MEETING Multi-Party Monitoring Plan, Version 1: Join technical stakeholders to review Ihis public moniloring plan and brainstorm next steps. Friday, September 18th What is Ashland Forest Resiliency? Since 2004, the people who live and work in Ashland and depend on a healthy forest for clean water have been working together to de- sign a future for the Ashland watershed. The result is the Ashland Forest Resiliency plan. Citizens, community leaders and the U.S. Forest Service all agree on the key objectives: reduce the risk of large-scale wildfire; help large, old trees survive fire, insects and disease; restore a healthy forest ecosystem; and uphold the critical values of our watershed -clean drinking water, recreation and wildlife habitat. Ashland Creek Q Ken Morrish The mark of a healthy forest is its ability to re- cover from disturbance. Such forests are resilient to drought, disease or fires. Our local forests are adapted to frequent fire among other disturbances. The pines with their thick bark are scarred, but survive repeated fires. A single sugar pine in our watershed -- dated at nearly seven centuries -- was already an old tree when Columbus discovered the "new world." More recently, these dry, open forests of large trees have grown dense with young Douglas-fir, Pacific madrone and white fir as a result of fire suppression. Now, if a fire burns, the large, older "legacy trees" are prone to succumb as un- naturally severe wildfires boil up through the dense undergrowth into the can- opy. They also must compete for water and nutrients with the dense young growth, weakening the older trees and increasing their vulnerability to insects and disease. The City of Ashland, local citizens and forest conservation groups collaborated to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan in 2004 that included a forest restoration plan. In 2008, the Forest Service used the community plan to de- velop a preferred alternative for managing national forestlands comprising our watershed. This is the forest resiliency plan, and it guides where and how to thin trees and brush on 7,600 acres in order to restore a resilient arid sustain- able forest. Skilled workers will thin smaller trees, reduce flammable fueis and conduct controlled burns to replicate the natural process. The plan will save the largest trees and preserve habitat for wildlife dependent on oider forests. It will also ensure water quality by preserving stream-side habitat, and protecting unstable slopes and erodible soils. And the plan will keep our communities safer from the threat of wildfire. .. ....~~~~~~~~~..... The Nature ~I Conservancy ~ Protecting nature. Preserving life~ ~-. ~~J a ~Q~~I f~" _u__ '~-"-l II" SOUTHERN 'I .. .. OREGON ;.__l1~!YERS!:J'.Y. _I What is Multi-Party Monitoring? "-9~'~-'-="" ""'''''It'' ,...... . ~!W ....i"~... :>:'::~'ii ..:~l"-.~':i l'- ,'t:-.,~;.-"). f"'s-~:i;;!'\" ~."I':'~'I~. :,....,-.,.~ ~ :0~-"">'. ~ l...i .\,I .., ,( ....]' ,,' . "tlll~ '. " ,'ij ~.:.,",. . ~:!;.:~!., J~l' ~ fl' ~,. ,.,. ~ ,-.:; ,,"" ,Cii III '\ ~ . . ~_;; ~ ~_...~..' t.. . I ~;~.' ,,'J&1 ~; - . :'"flf'~~""'~I'. ....~Q.. .~'" "'...,\\., Ill!:' ,;." M ~. ...~l.\'<'i .; r'" Jot ;I~~'.; f,. i'l',' ~';~~' '~"" " \11'.0 )M.". I ; . 'i. .~;:.~ i' I~\t~~ ~~. ) t; " ~,'" 11 ." '.. 'j' 'J '"U'~''''' ,I"" ~'\''''. _::'!i~ {". "" ~~l'. .:!. ", " ; 0><..,.. I f.,,,,, .,..,.\\. ,. t;:0.V. .:e - ~- ..; 'ilJ' n.:' ,.t,....' , . _, '.1 ..'I,', - ,~, 'to" i. '~-l: i'fi~ ~~,:.: I. ; !11!l/\1' '1,1~t~\ ' . , ' , ,,' ~! ~. ,.,; (7 T J.I'~ ~ '",. 11'~I"':;' ~\ '~" _ l' ""': '_~..' l< . ~.;''\ "-~"'~-""'~ ~ "-..1' The people of Ashland are very interested in how their plan for forest resiliency and safety is implemented on the ground. To meet that need, local stakeholders are working closely with the Forest Service to monitor each step of the way. A multi- party monitoring project will help ensure that plans are followed and that measur- able results are used to adjust manage- ment actions along the way. A generous grant from the National Forest Foundation is supporting the monitoring project. '" A volunteer measures a large pine. At an initial workshop, a diverse group of "D'.,080,.',"'NC 20 technical stakeholders called for development of a comprehensive, long- term and fundable monitoring plan. To ensure transparency and accessibil- ity, the group called for a "science delivery" system placing data, photos and interpretation on a user-friendly website. The group recommended starting with demonslration projects in the field to inform discussion and gathering more information about the fire history of these forests. To answer the question: what should be monitored?, the group recom- mended as top indicators: water quality, large tree preservation and sur- vival, and retention of old-growth forest. They also suggested using recov- ery of understory grasses and wildflowers and bird surveys as indicators of forest health. A plan to do this is in the works. What's New? . Vicky Sturtevanl from Southern Oregon Universily and the Forest Ser- vice convened 20 community leaders to consider the social, health and economic benefits to the community (also known as "social capital") from the multi-party monitoring project. . Community experts in public outreach and participation gathered in early August to advise on strategies to expand community engagement in the project. . The partners to the AFR multiparty monitoring project are integrating stakeholder input in the multiparty monitoring plan to be offered for re- view by stakeholders and finalized. . Stakeholders have begun field work to gather new data from the forest in the watershed. The Forest Service has identified 700 new forest in- ventory plots for use in monitoring, and engaged a contractor to gather data at each. . A database, summaries of forest data, and Web site are in development and will provide easy access for interested parties. Ashland Forest Resiliency multiparty monitoring is led by a collaborative partnership established between the US Forest Service, the City of Ashland, and The Nature Conservancy, with support from the National Forest Foundation. The partners are collaborating with faculty and students at Southern Oregon University, interested citizens, and other organizations, and encourage you to participate.' If you'd like to unsubscribe to future e-mail issuesofthisupdate.pleasecontactchamberC@ashland.or.us Ashland Forest Update, Augusl2009 PAGE 2