[5]
By Oregon Forest Forever [6],
The legislative session is off and running in Salem, and as always, the first few weeks bring a flood of new bills. We’re sifting through all of them and will keep you posted if action is needed.
One good bill on our radar right now is HB 3103 [7], which is essentially a good governance bill aimed at creating common sense harvest levels for state forestland – we’ll let you know when the time comes to support that concept.
Two bad bills we might need your help on: HB 3489 [8], crafted by legislators with urban progressive perspectives, would impose a hefty severance tax on timber, increasing the tax burden to the sector by roughly 800% while defunding the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. SB 79 [9] would make it harder for forestland owners to build a house on their property. More to come soon on these potential threats.
We’re still digging into the details on many bills, so no action needed yet — but stay tuned!