Spring 1986 RAIN Page 57 Old Growth Monument Plan Revised Last year, Friends of Cathedral Forest began a campaign to create a “Cathedral Forest National Monument” that would protect all old growth forests on Oregon public lands (see RAIN XI:3, page 33). That campaign included an ambitious plan to conduct community group meetings and public town meetings throughout the state for the purpose of identifying and mapping remaining old growth areas. The plan proved too ambitious, and the group got bogged down in the mapping stage. Now Cecelia Ostrow, one of the organizers of that campaign, has come up with a different angle on the national monument idea. She has drawn up a new plan that, in effect, extends the “endangered species” concept to “endangered ecosystems.” Old growth forests would be designated as endangered ecosystems and logging them would be prohibited. This replaces the need for mapping (in the near term) with a need for a clear definition of old growth trees and forests. Ostrow has drawn up a plan that explicitly defines old growth and that declares that any forest that fits the definitions should be designated as part of the Cathedral Forest National Monument. In addition, the plan calls for monument designation for those lands that do not themselves contain old growth trees, but adjoin or connect old growth trees or forests, if preservation of these lands is deemed necessary to maintain the integrity of the adjacent old growth ecosytem. Finally, the plan calls for monument designation not only for old growth forests and adjoining lands, but also for certain lands that possess the potential for regeneration of old growth forests in the near future. Ostrow hopes that this element of the plan would encourage environmentalists in the eastern United States to adopt the campaign , making the Cathedral Forest National Monument truly national in scope. It would also help regenerate and protect forests in areas such as the Siuslaw Forest of the Oregon Coast Range, where less than three percent of old growth forest remains, but significant areas of long-standing second growth exist. Preservation of old growth forest is becoming a bigger issue within the environmentalist community, with national Audobon and other groups making it a major priority. Response to Ostrow's plan has been supportive from several of these groups, but so far Earth First! has been the only group to make it part of its own agenda. Later this spring, Ostrow plans to tour the West Coast to drum up support for her plan. In August, she plans to bring it to the second North American Bioregional Congress for endorsement. For more information, contact Cecilia Ostrow, c/o The Alliance, PO Box 14742 Portland, OR 97214. Cascadia Revolving Fund Revolving loan funds not only invest in socially responsible businesses and projects, they have the additional advantage of putting your money to work in the local economy. Seattle has a fund that is just getting started. Cascadia Revolving Fund has an arrangement with Sound Savings and Loan Association. The investor deposits money in a Sound account and directs it to the Cascadia Fund. The account services a collateral for loans approved by the fund’s Board of Directors. There is now over $100,000 in the fund's account, and loans to local, socially responsible businesses and nonprofits are now being reviewed. The fund's loan criteria includes protecting the environment, supporting worker democracy, safety and opportunity, and use of ethical advertising. Technical expertise to promote the businesses success will be provided. The fund has already granted two pilot Ipans. One gave short-term support to Seattle SANE, a peace organization with an established record. The other underwrites the publication of Mommy and Daddy Are Fighting, a book from Seal Press, a small women-owned firm. It is being used with children experiencing violence in their homes. The fund is now also working with the Puget Sound Cooperative Federation to make loans to area cooperatives. Cascadia and the Cooperative Federation will share portions of administrative overhead and technical assistance while maintaining separate funds for cooperative and private businesses. For more information, contact the Cascadia Revolving Fund, 605 First Avenue, Suite 505, Seattle, WA 98104; 206/292-0113. Oregon Natural Resource Council You should know about the ONRC if you don't already. It is a coalition of 90 organizations, and is Oregon's primary natural resources conservation association since 1972. ONRC's major accomplishments are in the area of initialization of citizen involvement in public agency land and resource planning, and the establishment of protected wilderness areas. Recent activities include: 1) an old growth forest action and education plan (only four percent of Oregon's old growth forest remains after half a century of clearcutting), 2) protection of Hell’s Canyon, the deepest gorge on earth and habitat of very diverse animal and plant life, from timber cutting, 3)
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