To the Editor:

(This letter is in response to Frances Preston’s letter published March 16 in the Eagle.)

Ms. Preston: I’ve been with Blue Mountains Forest Partners (BMFP) since 2006. I became its executive director, a paid position, last March. My BMFP work does not include running for public office. No one outside the county supports my campaign.

The majority of BMFP voting members are local, and include ranchers, loggers, mill operators and interested community members — even some Public Forest Commission (PFC) members. Forest Service and other agency staff regularly participate in our meetings, but not as voting members.

BMFP and PFC are hardly “polar opposites.” They have the same focus: public land management in Grant County. And the same mission: creating healthy forests and strong communities in Grant County.

BMFP and PFC do approach their work differently, though. BMFP respects the efforts of Malheur National Forest staff who live in this county and work hard to make it better. BMFP is also solution oriented and believes it is smarter and more effective to work with the Forest Service and other interested parties even though we sometimes disagree about the best way to move forward. PFC doesn’t have the same respect for the Forest Service, and its approach to public land management is adversarial.

And that is the important difference: Working with community members and Harney County Restoration Collaborative, BMFP has helped the Malheur increase the pace and scale of its restoration work beyond what is happening on any other National Forest in the nation. This has resulted in healthier forests, a three-fold increase in timber harvest with more logs for area mills, reduced unemployment, higher student body enrollments in some school districts and new interest in forest-related investments by outside entities. BMFP is helping make good things happen in Grant County.

BMFP’s approach to creating healthy forests and strong communities is working. PFC’s approach to creating healthy forests and strong communities is not working. If elected, my intent is to help make PFC an asset to the county.

Mark Webb

Mt Vernon