Members
Thank you for your interest in becoming a member of the Blue Mountains Forest Partners! Blue Mountains Forest Partners (BMFP) is a diverse group of stakeholders who work together to create and implement a shared vision to improve the resilience and well-being of forests and communities in the Blue Mountains. We represent a broad constituency of stakeholders interested in healthy forest ecosystems, economic vitality, and quality of life in Grant County, Oregon. We provide the United States Forest Service (USFS) with proposals for management of National Forest (NF) lands on the Malheur National Forest, and we support the utilization of forest resources and related opportunities to strengthen local communities.
The BMFP is a member-driven organization with clear codes of governance of its own operations and the working relationship with the USFS. Our engagement with the USFS supports efficient and timely progress of projects through selection, planning, execution and monitoring phases. At all times the focus of projects is to support steady progress towards the long term goal of the Malheur National Forest as a healthy, diverse ecosystem that is resilient to natural and human disturbance, while at the same time ensuring our communities are safe from wildfires. Project selection and scale of execution is such that major restoration at the overall forest level will be evident in a 30-year timeframe.
Activity in the forest and use of forest resources are foundational to the economic vitality and the quality of life of our local communities, fostering a diversity of business and employment opportunities, and supporting the infrastructure to capitalize on the natural resources available from the Forest. Sensitive but persistent active management supported by the BMFP/USFS partnership, with a strong focus on a long term vision for the forest, coupled with diligent monitoring to guide us, is returning the Forest to its natural resilient character.
The BMFP engages in advocacy, science, and economic education to advance achievement of its vision.
If you are interested in participating in our deliberations, please attend our monthly meetings at the John Day Airport on the 3rd Thursday of the month from 4-7pm. For more regular updates on our activities you can also join our listserv by contacting our Executive Director, Mark Webb at bmfp06@gmail.com.
If you are interested in becoming a member of BMFP, we ask that you have attended a minimum of three meetings and be familiar with our Operations Manual and our Zones of Agreement. If after reviewing these, and attending our meetings, you are still interested in membership, please contact one of our board members, or our Executive Director, Mark Webb, to begin the approval process. Before official membership is granted you will be required to sign and agree to the Declaration of Commitment. Nonvoting partners are welcome to fully participate in our conversations and are asked to hold themselves to the same standards as voting members, but are not permitted to vote on pending BMFP decisions. For more information, please see our Organizational Documents located here on our web page, or email bmfp06@gmail.com.
BMFP seeks participants and members with a broad diversity of perspectives and a proven ability to work productively with people of differing, and often conflicting, perspectives.