Legislator seeks internal papers about forestry research flap

BY MARY ANN ALBRIGHT
Gazette-Times reporter

Saying he’s “deeply troubled” by a controversy surrounding Oregon State University’s College of Forestry, a state senator has filed a public-records request to examine internal OSU documents regarding the flap.

Sen. Charlie Ringo, D-Beaverton, made his request last month, initially asking for copies of all electronic and paper documents generated since October by Hal Salwasser, dean of the College of Forestry, and several professors who tried to delay the publication of graduate student Dan Donato’s controversial work in the journal Science.

The request is another twist in the Donato affair, which has attracted national media attention, prompted a congressional field hearing and called into question issues of academic freedom and scientific integrity. Donato, an OSU graduate student, led a study of salvage logging in the southwest Oregon area burned in the 2002 Biscuit fire, and concluded that salvage logging slows forest regrowth and creates tinder that can increase fire risk.

Some professors in the College of Forestry who disagreed with Donato’s findings tried to delay publication of the study, raising concern among students and faculty about censorship. The professors said they wanted Science to delay the publication so they had time to prepare a response, which they hoped would run alongside Donato’s article.

Ringo’s request also included in its scope Donato’s article and documents relating to the proposed Forest Emergency Recovery and Research Act legislation, which would speed logging of forests hit by fires or other disasters. In addition, Ringo sought responses from OSU faculty and students and the general public regarding the Donato case.

In a Feb. 9 letter addressed to Salwasser, Ringo wrote, “I am writing to follow up on the events surrounding the Science magazine article published by Daniel Donato et al. As you know, I am deeply troubled by this affair, and I wish to understand the full sequence of events. To that end, I would like to obtain a wide range of documents from the College of Forestry.”

Ringo is traveling in Taiwan this week, his office said, and was unavailable for additional comment.

Salwasser said he’s never before been asked to make his correspondences public.

“I can’t tell you how distressing it is to know that someone is poring through all of your correspondences, some of which were very thoughtful, and others which were the first thing that came to mind.”

Since January, Salwasser estimates about half of his time has been taken up by various fallout from the Donato controversy, of which Ringo’s request is just a small component.

“I’ve talked to (Ringo) a couple of times,” Salwasser said. “He’s concerned with undue influence by the timber industry on the work that the college does. He’s concerned with my personal political involvement, in regard to helping develop forest legislation.”

Salwasser noted that although a logging tax provides 10 percent of the college’s total budget, most of this money goes to general salary support, and not to specific research projects.

Also, only about 60 percent of this tax revenue comes from industrial forest land, with the remainder coming from family, federal, state and tribal forests.

Salwasser said he’s not a proponent of logging in all forests.

“There are places where it’s appropriate, and places where it’s not,” he said. “All forests, regardless of who owns them and what the goals are, must protect water quality and make a contribution to the conservation of native fish and wildlife.”

OSU has asked Ringo to limit his public-information request, saying it would cost the university considerable resources to meet all of his demands.

OSU provided Ringo copies of Salwasser’s e-mails for the month of January without charge, and has agreed to also provide at no cost to Ringo copies of OSU professor John Sessions’ e-mails and appointment book listings. Sessions was among the College of Forestry faculty who tried to delay publication of Donato’s paper in Science.

OSU’s general counsel, Caroline Kerl, said it cost the university more than $2,500 in copying and labor expenses to provide Ringo with Salwasser’s e-mails.

Kerl said College of Forestry and legal staffers spent 19 hours on the project, and it took about 20 hours of attorney time to review the materials and mark for redaction confidential student information.

Ringo also requested copies of e-mails relating to public business that Salwasser may have generated on his home computer or laptop. OSU determined that material contained on these computers would be duplicative of the desktop correspondence Ringo had already received.

Salwasser has publically expressed regret in how he handled the controversy within his college, saying in a letter to the university that he should have told Sessions and the other dissenting professors to voice their criticism through open scientific debate. He added that he should have congratulated Donato on being published in a journal as prestigious as Science.

Mary Ann Albright covers higher education. She can be reached at maryann.albright@lee.net or 758-9518.