HomeMy WebLinkAboutAFR Letter - Corrected Copy
August 19,2009
CITY OF
ASHLAND
Scott Conroy
Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest Supervisor
3040 Biddle Rd
Medford, OR 97504
Dear Scott,
On behalf of the City Council, I am writing to express the City of Ashland's ongoing support for
the signing of the Ashland Forest Resiliency (AFR) project and to urge the Forest Service to
approve a Record of Decision for the project.
The Record of Decision is an important step toward realizing a resilient and healthy forest in our
watershed. As you are aware, the Ashland Creek Watershed is the city's sole source of drinking
water. A severe wildfire in the watershed would create extreme challenges for the City in
delivering safe drinking water to our residents, businesses, and visitors. Additionally, much of
Ashland lies within the wildland urban interface, and a fire that begins in the watershed will
threaten approximately 1,400 homes and their residents. A wildfire in the watershed would also
jeopardize treasured recreational resources and the beauty of Ashland's natural setting. We
believe AFR is critical to preventing such a wildfire.
The City of Ashland strongly supports the preferred alternative, as we expressed in October
2008. The City Council renewed its commitment to this project in June of this year by adopting
a Council Goal to "Foster strong collaboration of the local community, City, State and Federal
leaders in efforts to improve the health of the Ashland watershed through reducing fire hazards
and restoring forest health."
We have appreciated the strong commitment that you and your staff have had in working
collaboratively with the City and our citizens. Thank you, as well, for the opportunities for the
City to collaborate with you and your staff on the multi-party monitoring effort. A well executed
monitoring effort is critical to ensure long-term trust and transparency as we implement AFR.
The City will continue to dedicate staff and funding toward this key component of the project,
and we look forward to further collaboration with the Forest Service.
c.
Ashland City Council
Ashland Forest Lands Commission
Chief John Karns, Ashland Fire and Rescue
Chris Chambers, Forest Resource Specialist
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ADMINISTRATION
20 East Main Street
Ashland. Oregon 97520
WNW.ashland,or.us
Tel 541488.6002
Fax: 541488.5311
m: 800.735.2900
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