Dave Stone becomes President Emeritus 

Like most of you, I became a supporter of the idea of a Douglas-Fir National Monument because of Dave Stone’s advocacy.  The whole idea of a national monument honoring the  Douglas-fir ecosystem has been shaped over the last more than a decade by Dave’s great leadership.

It was therefore with a great deal of sadness and consternation that we on the Board were informed that Dave’s health had deteriorated to such a degree that he would no longer be able to serve as President of the Friends of Douglas-Fir National Monument. 

We on the Board wanted to preserve Dave’s knowledge, leadership and commitment to the campaign for a national monument and acknowledge the immeasurable contributions he has already made.  So we created the office of President Emeritus on the Board.  Dave has agreed to continue on the Board in that role, making what contributions he chooses, for as long as he chooses.

Other changes are here or are in the works

While the Friends of Douglas-Fir National Monument will continue, and our Campaign for the creation of a national monument will continue unabated, you may have already been noticing some changes to how the campaign is carried out.  Instead of managing all of our email communications from Dave’s computer, we have already changed to using a commercial service to keep track of our supporters addresses and to communicate with you, our supporters.

If you want to communicate with us, you can use the new email address info@douglasfirnationalmonument or send an email to me as President mechammilo@gmail.com.  You can, of course, send any email you want to Dave, using his email dns@efn.org.

You may have already noticed that the Dispatch has also been changing.  We hope that the new editor will continue to  produce something as informative and interesting as it was.  Comments, suggestions, complaints can now be sent to mechammilo@gmail.org.

Other changes will be coming too over time, but all without changing the primary focus: the creation of a worthwhile Douglas-Fir National Monument.

So here is a things to do list:

Volunteer
Dave’s withdrawal from his leadership position highlights the gap in the structure of the Friends.  We on the Board need more Board members to share leadership of the Friends (not as heavy a burden as it might sound).  We need volunteers who might be interested in talking to other groups about the Douglas-Fir, about appearing at events to explain the mission of the Friends, to do other things to get the word out about the idea of the National Monument.  Please contact me mechammilo@gmail.com with an indication of your interest.  I will get back to you with more details. 

Send a letter
If you have not sent a letter to the White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ or to Senator Wyden https://www.wyden.senate.gov/contact/email-ron or Senator Merkley https://www.merkley.senate.gov/connect/contact/ recently, you might do so now.

The message can be as brief as:  I am writing you to request that you create the Douglas Fir National Monument.  You can learn the details at www.douglasfirnationalmonument.org.  We need to establish Douglas-Fir National Monument to conserve and fully restore a naturally functioning landscape dominated by old-growth forests, as well as to protect the scenic beauty and recreational opportunities for the benefit of this and future generations.

You can also send a note to Senators Wyden and Merkley in support of Senator Wyden’s River Democracy Act (RDA; S.4449, 118th Congress).

Make a comment
The Forest Service is working on a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to protect old-growth forests on public lands.  This is a great concept and a great step forward, but it does not do enough.  It distinguishes between old-growth forests, which it wants to protect, and mature forests, which it does not protect.  It also offers nothing more than administrative protection of old-growth forests, not even offering the administrative protections now afforded to designated roadless areas. 

You can get more information from the Forest Service at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/old-growth-forests/amendment.

You can make a comment at: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public/CommentInput?Project=65356

The comment period ends September 20, 2024.  There is a national movement to show support for the idea of preserving old-growth and to make those protections as strong as possible.  Your comments can be as simple as those I included above.