Page 34 RAIN September/October 1985 Russel Lande, a biology professor from the University of Chicago, has done an analysis of demographic and genetic factors in spotted owl survival. The study concludes that Forest Service plans are "very likely to cause the extinction of the spotted owl from the management area," and that even if the Forest Service doubles the number of SOMAs, the spotted owl may still become extinct. His analysis implies that any further harvest of old growth will jeapordize the survival of this species. Advocates of the Cathedral Forest National Monument proposal (see RAIN Xl:3, page 33), which would protect all remaining old growth, will find support for the proposal in Dr. Lande's well-researched study. In fact, his work could become the basis for a regional or national suit to halt all further old growth harvesting. Several conservation organizations are considering such action. For more information or a copy of the full report, contact: the National Wildlife Federation, Suite 708, Dekum Building, 519 SW Third Avenue, Portland, OR 97204. (Adapted from Siskiyou Country, August/September 1985.) Recycled Paper Outlet Established in Portland The Recycled Paper Outlet has been established to supply recycled paper to the Portland metropolitan area. The outlet is a branch of Resource Recycling Inc., a Northwest Portland firm that publishes a national trade journal in recycling. The outlet stocks all kinds of office paper made from 100-percent recycled fibers, including bond, copier, mimeo, duplicator, and computer papers, and writing pads. Manager Suzette DuCharme says the Recycled Paper Outlet was started to meet the needs of businesses that want to aid recycling by buying recycled products. The papers come in standard sizes, weights, and colors, and are competitively priced. Similar firms operate in Nebraska and Illinois, DuCharme said, but this is the first retail outlet for recycled paper in Portland. For more information, call Suzette DuCharme at 503/227-1319. Nanoose Peace Camp Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, is the site of one of the most sophisticated underwater testing ranges in the world. The facility plays a major role in the testing and development of the U.S. Navy's anti-submarine warfare program, as U.S. ships and nuclear-powered submarines go there regularly to test their weapons systems. The agreement allowing the U.S. to use Nanoose is due to expire in April 1986. Preventing the renewal of this agreement is the primary goal of a local group called the Nanoose Conversion Campaign. The group is working to end the military use of Nanoose Bay and convert it to peaceful purposes. It established a peace camp near the base in April of this year to bring increased visibility to this issue. It has also set up an Economic Conversion Comnuttee to study options for converting the base to peaceful uses that would continue to bring economic benefit to the area. Other activities include a petition campaign, due to end by the first of October of this year, and intensive political lobbying. For more information, contact: Nanoose Conversion Campaign, Box 1981, Parksville, B.C. VOR 2S0, Canada. Bull Run Water Problems Thirty percent of the people in Oregon get their drinking water from the Bull Run Watershed, and many of them are becoming concerned about the future quality of that water. Bull Run once provided some of the purest water in the world because it was a wilderness area protected by law. Not even hiking was allowed there under the federal Trespass Act, enacted in 1904. The water flowed clean and clear until 1958, when the Forest Service began to allow illegal logging. For fifteen years the logging continued without public knowledge, until it became clear that the quality of the water was deteriorating badly due to sedimentation. The flow became more erratic, and eventually chlorine content increased by 300 percent. The water has never returned to its former purity. The logging was halted by court order, but the Forest Service has never stopped trying to renew the harvest of Bull Run's forest. The Service managed to have the Trespass Act repealed, and replaced by a law which states that logging may take place if it does not result in water quality worse than that measured while logging was in process. Elaborate standards have been drawn up specifying allowable levels of sedimentation and other characteristics. These standards must be approved by the Portland City Council before logging can be resumed. The Council is under a great deal of pressure to accept the standards even though it is clear that the damage will be irreversible before it can even be detected. The Bull Run Interest Group is spearheading citizen efforts to save the forest and protect consumer interests. They can be reached through Donald Cook in Portland, at 503/244- 5026. (Update: Just before going to press we learned that the Forest Service decided to resume logging without City Council approval.) Portland Gets the Picture Cities, like most other living things, express both continuity and change. Until this century, the standard method of preserving these expressions was through art, usually paintings or drawings of places people lived and the activities they engaged in. The twentieth century city, though, has been documented mostly by photography, allowing precise, literal imaging of the urban scene. Now, in Portland, the artists-eye view of the evolving life of the city is making a comeback. The Visual Chronicle of Portland is a program begun in 1984 by the Metropolitan Arts Commission, a public agency that supports the arts. The goal of the Visual Chronicle is "to capture the transitory experiences of urban life ... to create a visual document of the city—its people and topography, its civic and cultural events." The first year's results are about to go pubbc, with an October unveiling of 14 works, some commissioned for the program, by 12 local artists. The works are "flat art," meaning paintings, prints, drawings and photos. This initial three-year program has a budget of $15,000, and will continue, hopefully, at least as long as its model, the Historical-Topographical Atlas of Amsterdam. That art/history project has been in operation for fifty-one years. The next round of submissions for Portland's art archives is due in March of 1986. To learn more, contact The Visual Chronicle of Portland, The Metropolitan Arts Commission, 1120 SW 5th, Room 518, Portland, OR 97204-1983; 503/796-5111.
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