Smith Rock photo © Kathryn DelGatto

Welcome to the Juniper Group of the Sierra Club!

Dedicated to preserving Central Oregon's environment, natural resources, and quality of life. 

The Juniper Group encompasses most of Central and Eastern Oregon, including Baker, Crook, Deschutes, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, and Wallowa counties.

We hope the information on these pages will make you a better informed citizen and inspire you to join us.

Juniper Group Headlines!

New Executive Committee Members

Three new members were elected to the Juniper Group Executive Committee: Gary Kelley, Merry Ann Moore, and Larry Pennington. Go to the ExComm Biographies page for more about their backgrounds and interests.

Volunteers Urgently Needed!

The Bush Administration is inundating us with timber sales in many guises, especially fire suppression. Many of these are initially ill conceived, such as the Thorn sale below.  The Volunteer Action Alerts page has a summary for many of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management actions that impact the environment.  Even more detail is provided in the many comments and appeals documents available on the Positions and Resources page. To conduct field surveys, write detailed and accurate comments, file comments and appeals, then follow-up to insure what is being done is what was agreed to, is time consuming and requires considerable expertise in several professions. 

The Juniper Group and Oregon Chapter needs your help if you have skills in the follow areas:

• Wildlife
• Aquatics
• Soils
• Restoration
• Renewable Energies
• Electrical Generation Systems
• Legal

We will pair people up with experienced people to develop your expertise. To volunteer for any of these areas, email either Asante Riverwind or Gretchen Valido. More information on volunteering is available from the Volunteer Form.

Thorn Timber Settlement

The Sierra Club and its environmental partners reached a settlement with the Malheur National Forest over the Thorn post-fire timber sale proposal. See the Volunteer Action Alerts page for a summary of the issues appealed, and the Positions and Resources page for the appeal document itself. After a seven hour appeal resolution meeting in John Day on May 8th, a few more hours of meetings and calls before and after this meeting, and a full day of non-stop phone conferencing and meetings on May 9th - with our attorneys and representatives staying consistent and strong, we have an agreement that drops all of the Thorn unroaded, wilderness quality unroaded area from logging entirely. Agreement details will be forthcoming for all to review. There is a Wednesday May 14th meeting in John Day with all parties to finalize the agreement, followed by review by all of our respective boards and agency officials.  Thanks for all your help and support!!

Sisters Aspen Lakes Destination Resort

A Sisters developer could be the first in the state to attempt to convert an existing housing subdivision to a destination resort. Never mind that the proposal doesn't conform to Deschutes County's comprehensive plan. Or that the Aspen Lakes Golf resort project clearly fails to meet Goals 6 and 8 of state destination resort guidelines. The developer contends that "the proposed text amendment will have no effect upon the air, water and land resources quality in Deschutes County." But the property for the project comes within .16 miles of Whychus Creek, a federally-designated Wild and Scenic River upstream. The environmental impacts of a large lodge, hundreds of houses and other amenities there promise to be devastating for the creek, since the source of water for the hundreds of new housing and lodging units proposed will be the aquifer which recharges Whychus. The Juniper Group has submitted a letter to the Deschutes County Planning Commission opposing the amendment.

For more details on this issue and information on how you can join in opposition to another destination resort and a serious weakening of the Deschutes County development codes, see the full Aspen Lakes article on the Volunteer Action Alerts page. Or, email Merry Ann Moore.

May 13 Update:

In the latest twist on Deschutes County destination resorts, a project proposed for rural Sisters will be deliberated a second time by the Planning Commission on June 12. The Commission is divided on whether to go along with the novel legal approach used by the developer, who plans to convert an existing housing subdivision to a resort. Commissioners wanted more time to hear opinions from two absent commissioners.

Please write to planning commissioners right away and ask that they vote no on TA-07-7, Proposed Changes to Destination Resort Code. And, please attend the deliberations on June 12, 5:30 p.m., in the Barnes and Sawyer Room (1st floor), Deschutes Service Center, located in the County State Offices building, 1300 NW Wall. Let the Commissioners know you are concerned!

Volunteers Needed To Remove Invasive Plants In Oregon Wilderness

The Juniper Group Sierra Club plans to initiate invasive plant removal projects in Oregon wilderness lands. Four individual wilderness areas have been identified for this project. These are the Eagle Cap Wilderness in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, the North Fork John Day Wilderness in the Umatilla National Forest, the Black Canyon Wilderness in the Ochoco National Forest, and the Three Sisters Wilderness in the Deschutes National Forest. These areas, amongst others, have been identified as areas with intensive threats from encroaching invasive plants. These areas will be addressed selectively this summer.

The Sierra Club is looking for volunteers to participate in this rewarding activity. Weed pulls will be organized mostly as day outings and coordinated with the Forest Service staff responsible for invasive plant projects. The local Sierra Club is organizing this activity and facilitating the weed pulls in wilderness areas. All volunteers are welcome. Please contact: Fred Tanis, 541-385-3144, tanisfred@hotmail.com.