Poll says Oregonians want forests restored after wildfires

PORTLAND (AP) — Most Oregonians want federal forests restored after they are burned by severe wildfires, according to a new poll.

The survey was sponsored by a group with a strong position on the issue but was conducted by the independent Portland polling company Davis, Hibbitts & Midghall Inc.

The June poll of 607 registered voters across the state asked how fast and how far land managers should go to replace burned forests. The margin of error was plus or minus 4 percentage points.

About three in four of those surveyed favored restoring federal forests after wildfires by removing dead trees and planting seedlings. More than half said fires are growing out of control and cause too much damage, and everything possible should be done to restore burned forests.

The new poll was sponsored by the Roseburg group Communities for Healthy Forests, which advocates more rapid reclamation of burned lands. The group is funded through private donations and federal money channeled through county governments for forest-related education.

Executive Director Sue Kupillas said many people are surprised more burned areas are not replanted to speed forest recovery.

The poll results were released as two Oregon lawmakers were expected to push legislation in Congress requiring more rapid forest recovery.

The poll also found:

• Nine of 10 Oregonians surveyed said that protecting forests from catastrophic wildfires, protecting fish and wildlife habitat and providing forest industry jobs are either very important or somewhat important.
• The timber industry was viewed favorably by 67 percent of those surveyed, and unfavorably by 19 percent. Environmental groups were viewed favorably by 53 percent and unfavorably by 30 percent.
• The Oregon Legislature received the most unfavorable rating of any group by far. About 45 percent viewed it somewhat, or very, unfavorably.
• Nearly everybody surveyed said protecting water quality was an important factor in restoring forests.

SOURCE: http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2005/08/30/news/oregon/state03.txt