Forest Policy Briefs by Rex Storm, Forest Policy Manager Associated Oregon Loggers Feds Reject Coastal Oregon Forestry: The US Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA Fisheries Service in January disapproved Oregon’s coastal nonpoint pollution program. As expected since a 2013 environmental lawsuit ruling, EPA and NOAA attacked Oregon’s forest practices rules, […]

Healthy Forest, Healthy Communities Fringe activists are predictably making hay over statements made by Sen. Jon Tester regarding the impact of litigation and the “analysis paralysis” driving federal forest management today. They are making the most of their “gotcha” moment; one individual went so far as to liken the Democratic […]

National Cattlemen’s Beef Association The House Committee on Ways and Means, Subcommittee held a hearing on the Burden of the Estate Tax on Family Businesses and Farms. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association member and seventh-generation cattleman from Fort Davis, Texas, Bobby McKnight testified before the subcommittee on how the death tax […]

Rep. Carl Wilson has a bill to transfer Federal lands to local governments in order to save counties from the dreaded timber payment end-of-the-line deadline. By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon (Photo by Staff, Michelle L.L. Binker) State Representative Carl Wilson has a plan to quickly fix Oregon’s forest crisis before […]

Congressman Kurt Schrader U.S. Congressman Kurt Schrader introduced the Molalla Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, a bill that would protect more than 21 miles of the Molalla River by designating it as “recreational” under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. The legislation, introduced at the request of the Molalla community, […]

By Oregon Wheat Growers League 2015 Legislative Session Updates Jana Jarvis, Paladin Public Affairs/ Amanda Dalton, Dalton Advocacy, OWGL Lobbyists SB 613 was introduced which would establish new regulations around the aerial application of pesticides including, among other requirements: 1) establishing buffers around schools, residences and waterways; 2) providing extensive […]

Problems abound with Timber Tax Bill By Taxpayer Foundation of Oregon The 2015 Legislature has resurrected a controversial Timber Tax bill from the 2014 Session.   This bill is being hailed by timber groups as costly and unmanageable, unnecessary, and with serious financial harm at a vulnerable time. Timber Tax […]

By Rick Sohn Ph.D Umpqua Coquille LLC Timber Industry Report February 27, 2015 Mortgage Interest rates are still under 4% but rising. Logs prices are dropping unseasonably, and lumber prices are lower. Yet, housing starts remain stable, and home values are still rising but gradually. Trends of lumber, home construction, […]

By Cindy National Corn Growers Association Last year at the National Ethanol Conference in Orlando, EPA’s Director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality told the ethanol industry that the agency intended to finalize the volume requirements for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) by the end of spring 2014. […]

By Oregon Farm Bureau Wednesday was the deadline for members and committees to submit legislation. After Wednesday, each new bill introduced will count against the five bills that members are allotted for the remainder of the session. Because of this deadline, nearly 500 new bills were introduced this week alone, […]