The outcome of the 2024 election must be viewed as something of a setback for our shared goal of creating a Douglas-Fir National Monument.  While President Trump did create one national monument, totaling 380 acres, during his first term, he shrunk two national monuments in Utah proclaimed by Presidents Clinton and Obama by nearly two million acres (President Biden restored them). It thus seems unlikely that we will be able to convince him to create Douglas-Fir National Monument.  Likewise, it seems unlikely that we will be able to attract the attention of a Republican-led Congress and convince them to create our national monument.

Nonetheless we are not giving up on the goal of a Douglas-Fir National Monument. The question then is: what should we do now?

The answer is, the same thing we have been doing, with patience and fortitude.  Creating a national monument is always a slog.  The Friends must build a popular base of people who understand and support the idea of the Monument.  The Friends must seek and get other groups to listen to the idea and offer their support.  The Friends of the idea of a Douglas-Fir National Monument must work with the relevant Congressional leaders to work out the details and get Oregon Congressional delegation support.

The Friends of Douglas-Fir National Monument have been doing this and more:  we now need to recruit more friends to help us keep doing this.  We need to step up our game as well, because since the pandemic we have been knocked back somewhat.

So, in addition to promising that we are moving forward, we are, again, asking for your help.  We can use your support in any way that you are willing or able to give it.  We need help from friends who can visit the proposed Monument, and take other potential friends with them or who can share their fondness for the Monument on our website, on a person-to-person level and before groups of interested parties.  We need help from friends who will join the Board and help us develop the details of the arguments as we move forward.  We need your support in many ways.

We are moving forward.  Come join us.

Give us your Thoughts

Have you ever hugged a Douglas-fir?  Or discovered who Three-Fingered Jack was?  Or otherwise gained an impression of the proposed Douglas-Fir National Monument that you are willing to share?  The Friends of Douglas-Fir National Monument want to hear from you.  We are updating our website and we want to include your thoughts and impressions.  If you are wiling to share any thoughts, any pictures of anything relevant to the proposed Monument, and we can get it to fit into our website and message, we will put it up on our web pages, with full credit to you. We are looking for thoughts of about 500 words or so (the Prez says this time is 350 words).  Plus or minus as you wish. If you include pictures, and please do, send them as jpeg files around 1000 pixels on the longer side.

I’m Lichen Nature  (Our occasional insert on the natural aspects of the Douglas-Fir National Monument)

One of the important aspects of an old-growth forest is the carbon storage.  Usually when we think about carbon storage we think of the carbon in the trees of the forest.  And this is an important aspect.