Pipe Fork Creek, a tributary of Williams Creek, is shown in this image posted by the Williams Community Forest Project, which seeks to save the creek area from logging by Josephine County. The group has lined up a $2.32 million offer to buy 320 acres of county land along the creek, but county commissioners on Tuesday said they want assurances the land won't be logged and will remain open to the public.

Cheryl Bruner and her fellow members of the Williams Community Forest Project are pressing commissioners in Josephine County to sell 320 acres of county forest land in the Pipe Fork area of Williams so that the property can be conserved instead of logged.

The group has an appraisal, a willing buyer in the Conservation Fund and has made a $2 million offer to the county, but commissioners want more. The group hopes to eventually sell the property to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.

Dozens of supporters turned out in force at a Dec. 20 commissioner meeting and plan on showing up again at another commissioner meeting at 9 a.m. on Jan. 10 at the Basker Auditorium in Grants Pass to make public comments.

“We feel $2 million is a really fair offer,” Bruner said in a telephone interview. “(The county) can take that money and buy other forest land.”

Commissioner John West said he’s willing to negotiate.

“And so far, you have your price, the county has their price and if you can’t come to this price then… you have to see if you can come to somewhere in between, if that’s a possibility,” West said at the Dec. 20 meeting.

The effort to conserve the property has gone on for about four years. Pipe Fork feeds Williams Creek, which flows through the rural community, located about 20 miles southwest of Medford.

More information about the campaign is available at williamscommunityforestproject.org.

Organizations honored for work on forest projects near Union Creek

Lomakatsi Restoration Project and the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest have been recognized for their collaboration in the Union Creek area to keep 10 campgrounds and five day-use areas open from May to October, receiving the Forest Service Northwest Regional Forester’s Honor Award last month for their work together.

Eleven members of Lomakatsi’s tribal ecological forestry training program helped provide campground maintenance, brush maintenance and trail rehabilitation. They provided vegetation management in and around campgrounds to enhance recreation, improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk, according to a statement from Lomakatsi, an Ashland-based organization.

Lomakatsi provides long-term, large-scale forest restoration projects through stewardship agreements with the Forest Service.

The honor award recognizes partnerships that support Forest Service goals related to wildfire crisis strategy, post-disaster recovery and forest health, among others.

Deadline nears to comment on BLM plan to log dead, dying conifers

The deadline is Jan. 7 for people wanting to comment on a U.S. Bureau of Land Management proposal to remove dead and dying trees along BLM roads and in strategic areas in southwest Oregon. The logging is aimed at improving safety and maintaining access for community members, emergency services and firefighters.

The agency’s Medford District office is preparing an environmental assessment for the salvage and removal of dead and dying conifers and is asking the public to identify where trees are dying along major roads and in other notable areas. The agency is concerned about public safety along roads, increased fire risk, changes in wildlife habitat and economic impacts.

The environmental analysis will cover an estimated 5,000 acres. Work could begin later this year.

For more information, go to eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2027249/510 or contact Todd Bowen of the BLM, at 541-618-2365 or tbowen@blm.gov.