What will Governor
Brown do with Natural Resources?
The frantic early days of her reign as governor addressed
legislative Democratic leaders’ and Governor Brown’s top priorities. Will the
Brown administration now continue the work of John Kitzhaber’s administration
with regard to O & C forestland legislation, addressing forest health on
the National Forest Lands of Eastern Oregon and magically coming up with timber
supply to save failing mills in Cave Junction and John Day?
Governor Brown has a great compassion for distressed rural
communities. It will be incumbent on timber industry advocates to help generate
enthusiasm in the Governor and her office to address both State and Federal
forest issues. In fact, most of Kitzhaber’s Natural Resources team is still
working for Brown.
It is timely for Governor Brown and her team to step into
forest matters. The State Land Board, (Governor Brown, Treasure Wheeler and
Secretary of State Atkins) is considering how to deal with the embattled
Elliott State Forest, and the Board of Forestry seeks to redo the land
management plan for the Northwest State Forests to avert a financial crisis due
to the low harvest levels from this highly productive forest land.
On the federal side, Kitzhaber established a broad based
stakeholder group to devise a strategy for the 2.4 million acres of forestland
in Western Oregon. Unfortunately, Sen. Wyden wasn’t willing to accept Governor
Kitzhaber’s two key requirements for any O & C solution: final harvest prescriptions
for Southern Oregon and legal certainty for the entire plan.
However, the last Congress rejected Wyden’s O & C Bill
so Wyden may be more inclined to embrace the Kitzhaber proposal, which is
similar to the bill passed by Congressmen Walden, DeFazio and Schrader.
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