[5]by Rex Storm, Forest Policy Manager
Associated Oregon Loggers [6]
BLM Timber Lawsuit Impacts: Previously reported environmental lawsuits attempting to stop Bureau of Land Management timber sales in Southern Oregon now appear to impact an even larger timber volume. Environmental plaintiffs filed suit in US District Court to stop up to 25 BLM timber sales, and over 90 million board feet of timber harvest. For every million board feet of timber harvested, 38 jobs/year are generated in Oregon’s economy. If the lawsuits are not overturned, some 1,100 Oregonians would be threatened with under-employment during a three-year period.
Oregon Forest Sector Report: A new 200-page report, The 2012 Forest Report – An Economic Assessment of Oregon’s Forest & Wood Products Manufacturing Sector, affirms that the sector is poised to grow creating thousands of new rural jobs—given improved markets and needed reforms to increase the public timber supply. The report is published by Oregon Forest Resources Institute, which was created by Oregon’s Legislature to provide reliable public forestry information, and is funded by a portion of the timber harvest tax. More information at: www.TheForestReport.org [7]
Governor’s O& C Forest Panel: In October, Governor Kitzhaber appointed a 14-member panel to develop a proposal that aims to legally authorize increased timber sale from half the Bureau of Land Management O&C forestland acreage, while generating sufficient timber sale receipts to replace lost county government timber revenues. Beginning with a draft bill built by Oregon congressman DeFazio, Schrader and Walden, the panel must deliver its recommendation to the Governor and Congress by early next year.