A solution for the forests
Published: Saturday, January 28, 2012, 10:49 AM
By Michael H. Pieti In this highly charged, often nasty, political climate it takes no small amount of courage and trust to cross party lines to turn a crisis into a solution.
Congressmen Peter DeFazio, Greg Walden, and Kurt Schrader have shown their mettle by doing just that as they craft a solution to the O & C crisis – – for the benefit of Oregonians living in rural counties who have historically depended on timber harvest revenues from these lands to pay for vital community services.
The last federal check to Oregon's rural counties to help offset the loss in payments to timber-dependent counties was mailed January 19th. And sadly, these lands are still in a kind of limbo with a spotted owl forest management regime that gives conflicting and sometimes confusing direction when it comes to lands not protected for owl habitat.
These three Congressmen have seized on this crisis in an effort to address both problems – – an ambitious idea but definitely within reach. The plan satisfies ongoing concerns over the protection of old growth forests and also clarifies where sustained yield and timber harvesting is appropriate.
Under the proposal the last remaining mature and old growth forests – and thus the best habitat for listed species – of O & C lands would be turned over to the U.S. Forest Service for protective management, not to be commercially harvested. And lands that been harvested in the past that have the least ecological value would be managed to produce timber harvests on a sustained yield basis with suitably long growth cycles in some areas and subject to federal and state laws, and other forest management requirements. These lands would be placed in a trust to be managed for O & C counties.
The expected timber harvests would provide for the local timber infrastructure that supports rural communities and create an estimated 12,000 jobs. The prospect of new jobs in rural counties is more exciting than merely making the case for one more reauthorization of county payments.
The O & C measure would be attached to a larger bill being drafted by Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Representative Doc Hastings (R WA) that deals with forest management in national forests. This bill, with active support from Representative Walden has a genuine chance of passage in the Republican-majority House.
What's needed when this legislation reaches the Senate is strong support and advocacy from Senators Wyden and Merkley – – at least for the O & C section. We are hopeful that the DeFazio/Walden/Schrader jobs creation measure makes it through the House but in order to achieve a lasting long range solution it will be necessary for Oregon's senators to also see that this is a crisis ripe to be converted into opportunity.
Michael Pieti is Executive Secretary – Treasurer of the Carpenters Industrial Council, a union representing lumber and wood products workers throughout Oregon.
County timber payments: Put public lands ahead of politics
Published: Saturday, January 28, 2012, 10:00 AM
By Steve Pedery
There is no denying that Oregon's congressional delegation is under enormous political pressure because of the expiration of federal payments to support county budgets and that there are difficult choices to be made about how to keep counties afloat ("A new forest policy or bust," editorial, Jan. 23). But short-term political self-interest is not an excuse for elected officials attempting to sacrifice clean water, wildlife and America's public lands.
Unfortunately, Reps. Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden appear to be favoring short-term political expediency over finding a viable solution to the county payments impasse. They are poised to partner with the House Republican leadership on a plan to bail out county budgets by relinking them to clear-cut logging on public lands. Most Oregonians strongly oppose such a plan, and these representatives know it. Perhaps this is one reason that, despite months of hype, this controversial proposal has not been publicly released or opened to scientific scrutiny.
Historically, Oregon counties enjoyed an enormous windfall from the proceeds of the logging epidemic that swept through federal public lands in the 1970s and '80s. With as much as 90 percent of the region's old-growth forests cut down, strong public opposition finally brought an end to rampant clear-cutting in the 1990s -- and the money going to counties from timber sales shrank. Congress cushioned the fall by instituting federal payments (funded by American taxpayers) to help transition the counties away from dependence on federal subsidies. These payments expire this year.
Some in Congress, including Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, are working on a short-term extension of county payments to give local, state and federal leaders time to work on a permanent solution. Unfortunately, DeFazio, Schrader and Walden have not been working to advance a similar measure in the House.
Instead, they have partnered with House Republican leaders who wish to exploit the county payments impasse to weaken safeguards for clean water and wildlife. Despite historic low demand for timber, they are promoting the idea that counties can clear-cut their way to prosperity.
What little has been revealed about the plan isn't pretty. Approximately 1.2 million acres of federal Bureau of Land Management lands -- forests that belong to all Americans -- would be put into a corporate "timber trust." These lands would then be managed under weak state logging rules rather than more protective federal standards. State rules allow clear-cutting, don't require scientific analysis of logging's effects on salmon and other endangered species, and fail to include important Clean Water Act safeguards. To maximize profits, the 1.2 million acres would be subjected to industrial logging practices.
The plan is unlikely to generate the revenue county governments are seeking, as timber prices are at a record low and timber demand these days is coming from China. And as Gov. John Kitzhaber has noted, it is not in Oregon's interest to become the timber colony of Asia. Worse, the plan could undo decades of work establishing a restoration-based forestry model that repairs the environmental damage done by the logging epidemic of the past.
These are the sorts of problems that public hearings, and the normal legislative process, help uncover, which is why it is imperative that DeFazio, Schrader and Walden come clean on their legislation. They should share it with the public and schedule hearings both in Washington, D.C., and in Oregon, rather than leaving the legislative calendar in the hands of House Republican leaders. They should commit to an independent scientific analysis of the plan, as well as an economic analysis of its viability.
Most important, they should be willing to listen to Oregonians' concerns and explore alternatives for county funding that don't sacrifice our clean water, wildlife and public lands.
Steve Pedery is the conservation director of Oregon Wild.
There is no denying that Oregon's congressional delegation is under enormous political pressure because of the expiration of federal payments to support county budgets and that there are difficult choices to be made about how to keep counties afloat ("A new forest policy or bust," editorial, Jan. 23). But short-term political self-interest is not an excuse for elected officials attempting to sacrifice clean water, wildlife and America's public lands.
Unfortunately, Reps. Peter DeFazio, Kurt Schrader and Greg Walden appear to be favoring short-term political expediency over finding a viable solution to the county payments impasse. They are poised to partner with the House Republican leadership on a plan to bail out county budgets by relinking them to clear-cut logging on public lands. Most Oregonians strongly oppose such a plan, and these representatives know it. Perhaps this is one reason that, despite months of hype, this controversial proposal has not been publicly released or opened to scientific scrutiny.
Historically, Oregon counties enjoyed an enormous windfall from the proceeds of the logging epidemic that swept through federal public lands in the 1970s and '80s. With as much as 90 percent of the region's old-growth forests cut down, strong public opposition finally brought an end to rampant clear-cutting in the 1990s -- and the money going to counties from timber sales shrank. Congress cushioned the fall by instituting federal payments (funded by American taxpayers) to help transition the counties away from dependence on federal subsidies. These payments expire this year.
Some in Congress, including Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, are working on a short-term extension of county payments to give local, state and federal leaders time to work on a permanent solution. Unfortunately, DeFazio, Schrader and Walden have not been working to advance a similar measure in the House.
Instead, they have partnered with House Republican leaders who wish to exploit the county payments impasse to weaken safeguards for clean water and wildlife. Despite historic low demand for timber, they are promoting the idea that counties can clear-cut their way to prosperity.
What little has been revealed about the plan isn't pretty. Approximately 1.2 million acres of federal Bureau of Land Management lands -- forests that belong to all Americans -- would be put into a corporate "timber trust." These lands would then be managed under weak state logging rules rather than more protective federal standards. State rules allow clear-cutting, don't require scientific analysis of logging's effects on salmon and other endangered species, and fail to include important Clean Water Act safeguards. To maximize profits, the 1.2 million acres would be subjected to industrial logging practices.
The plan is unlikely to generate the revenue county governments are seeking, as timber prices are at a record low and timber demand these days is coming from China. And as Gov. John Kitzhaber has noted, it is not in Oregon's interest to become the timber colony of Asia. Worse, the plan could undo decades of work establishing a restoration-based forestry model that repairs the environmental damage done by the logging epidemic of the past.
These are the sorts of problems that public hearings, and the normal legislative process, help uncover, which is why it is imperative that DeFazio, Schrader and Walden come clean on their legislation. They should share it with the public and schedule hearings both in Washington, D.C., and in Oregon, rather than leaving the legislative calendar in the hands of House Republican leaders. They should commit to an independent scientific analysis of the plan, as well as an economic analysis of its viability.
Most important, they should be willing to listen to Oregonians' concerns and explore alternatives for county funding that don't sacrifice our clean water, wildlife and public lands.
Steve Pedery is the conservation director of Oregon Wild.
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