Photo from Friends Of Mt. Emily.
An icon of Northeast Oregon has a date with the logger, unless a lot of money can be raised quickly.
What’s at risk is 500 acres of the Mt. Emily Recreation Area near La Grande. A timber company is getting ready to cut down most of the big trees in the Trails Unit, a section that’s hugely popular with hikers, bikers and horseback riders.
Local efforts to save the trees are falling behind and falling short. So the group Friends of Mt. Emily is appealing statewide for help.
Here’s the threat. Forest Capital Partners owns most of the timber rights in the Mt. Emily Recreation Area even though the land is owned by Union County. The company wants to begin logging the 500 acre trails unit on July 1st.
Here’s the rescue plan. If Union County can raise $600,000 by the end of May, it can buy the trees and would operate the area under a sustainable forestry plan.
Sue Miller of the Friends group says with two weeks to go, they still need $500,000. “This is a one time opportunity for our generation to leave a legacy of sustainable forestry” she says. “We urgently need all donations, large and small.”
Complicating things – this is an all or nothing proposition. Raising some of the money won’t save some of the trees. The timber company wants all of the cash up front before calling off the harvest.
If you want to help out, check out the donation page on the Friends of Mt. Emily website. There are two ways to donate, either through the county or the Blue Mountains Conservancy. Either way, the contributions are tax deductible.
The Film Club at Eastern Oregon University has produced a short video about efforts to save the trees.
Video: MERA Trails Unit
