Delaying the inevitable?
The State Land Board has delayed their decision on the
proposed sale of the Elliott State Forest to Lone Rock Resources and two American Indian Tribes from April to May. The delay allows Governor Kate Brown who was
outvoted when new State Treasurer Tobias Read proposed amending the pending
sale agreement to buy back $25 million worth of special recreational or environmental
acres. New Secretary of State Dennis Richardson joined Read in supporting the
sale.
Brown is trying to use $100 million in bonds to pay the
Common School Fund for the Elliot, which Oregon already owns. That is less than
half of the $220.8 million Lone Rock is willing to pay. The legislature would
have to approve both Brown’s $100 million and Read’s $25 million. This is
problematic since there is currently a $1.6 billion hole in the budget.
The Governor has enlisted the help of the Department of
Forestry, ODF, to develop an option for the state to maintain the Elliott. ODF has
managed the Elliott on behalf of the SLB since the Elliott became Oregon’s
first State Forest in the 1930s. Funding for ODF’s management of the Elliott runs
out on June 30th of this year.
In anticipation of not having the sale finalized and needing
someone to care for the Elliott, the Department of State lands has issued a
Request For Proposal for an interim manager of the forest. Yet another strange
twist in the Elliott saga…
If the Governor is successful in rounding up $100 million,
she still needs one more vote from the three-member board. Read has been under
tremendous pressure from shocked environmentalists to change his position. Old
time environmental advocates have come in from the hinter lands and have been
seen in the Capitol Lobbying Read.
Read has proclaimed his responsibility
is to Oregon’s school children to protect the value of the Common School
Fund asset. John Charles, longtime follower of the Elliott, and President and
CEO of Cascade Policy Institute also calls
for selling the Elliott in a recent OpEd. Charles pegged the value of the Elliott at $850 million in 1995. The current appraised value of $220.8 million reflects the restrictions the SLB has placed on the Elliott.
