Oregon’s State Treasurer Ted Wheeler is troubled that he is
not meeting the financial responsibility of managing one of the most valuable
assets of the Common School Fund. Wheeler, along with Governor John Kitzhaber
and Secretary of State Kate Brown are charged with overseeing the 95,000-acre
Elliott State Forest in Southwestern Oregon.
Cascadia
Wildlands has filed an Endangered Species Act lawsuit challenging the ESF’s
plan for protection of the marble murrelet, a seabird that spends most of it’s
life at the ocean. This has led to the cancellation of most of the timber sales
from the ESF.
State Land Board (Kitzhaber, Wheeler and Brown) staff told a
legislative budget committee on
March 21st that timber revenues from the Elliott State Forest have dropped from
$11 million in Fiscal Year 2012 to $2.5-3.0 million for the first six months of
Fiscal Year 2013.
The Common School Fund benefits all of the public schools in
Oregon. As trustees for the CSF, the State Land Board has a legal
responsibility to return revenue to the CSF. The current lawsuit does not
eliminate the responsibility to the CSF.
If a school district challenged the state for not meeting
the trust’s financial duties, selling the ESF to a private forest landowner
might be the only option available.
In other words, should Cascadia Wildlands continue with
their suit, they might find that the Elliott State Forest will be sold to a private
forest landowner in order to return revenue to the Common School Fund.
