EDITOR’S NOTE: The Pioneer posted the Oregon Forest and Industries Council “press release” as an Op/Ed, along with several reponses to the inaccurate information and scare tactics contained in the commentary. See below for more about the misinformation being spread by this industry trade group. We will have an update following the ODF meeting today. Community members are urged to contact the ODF board and show support for the balanced Habitat Conversation Plan.
By Bob Van Dyk, Wild Salmon Center, Forest Grove, Oregon
It seems the meeting is connected to the recent Department of Forestry (ODF) plans for timber harvest for the next two years.
The corporate trade association for industrial timber companies — the Oregon Forest and Industries Council (OFIC) — posted a hard hitting “press release” about the plans last week. The ODF plans show a modest reduction in timber harvest in the near term, as ODF corrects for an updated inventory and transitions to habitat conservation strategies that will protect the state against enviro lawsuits.
(The OFIC release has a series of inaccuracies, which I will detail below.)
Some of the more timber-oriented members of the Board will probably use the meeting to try to delay the HCP. Look for Joe Justice (of Hancock Forest Management) to be vocal, and also Karla Chambers (who is on the Board of Hampton Lumber, one of main log buyers from state forests and a sponsor of the Linn County lawsuit), to complain about harvest predictions and to push for delays.
But will there be enough support to throw the HCP off track?
An alliance of conservation and fishing organizations has staked out the middle ground of balanced management with strong conservation sideboards – something the vast majority of Oregonians support.
Check out this action alert to add your voice today and let the Board know you want to continue on course without delay. No public testimony is being taken.
Another timely topic is an effort to help fund county services regardless of timber harvest, so that might come up, too.
Be on the lookout for bogus arguments about the economic devastation that will come from a modest harvest change on state forests, which are only 3% of Oregon’s forests. The fact is that the amount of timber volume under discussion (around 1% of statewide cut) is unlikely to show up in any jobs numbers. Even in Clatsop County, only 3% of the jobs are in logging and sawmills. Those job numbers have shown almost no change even with past big swings in the cut on the Clatsop State Forest. The forest products industry is too dynamic and complex to show much change from small harvest swings.
The real political driver is that major log purchasers like Hampton and Stimson have mills at the edge of the state forests. They like that the state logs can’t be exported (reduces competition for the logs), and they like that the harvests happen nearby, which reduces their cost to get logs to mills.
Will the Board stay on track with the HCP? Will timber pressure cause a weakening of the HCP and more delays? We will know tomorrow.
INDUSTRY TALKING POINTS AGAINST THE DRAFT HCP
Industry and some of their same elected allies attacked ODF and the HCP in an OFIC press release. Let’s consider the claims in turn:
— OFIC claims that ODF “used inaccurate modeling data to develop a plan to manage 600,00 (sic) acres of Oregon’s state forests.”
Incorrect. ODF used the most updated and accurate modeling data available.
— OFIC claims that the new harvest projections show that HCP harvest projections were wrong.
Incorrect. The recent modeling was for a short two-year period when ODF will operate under both the HCP and the current Forest Management Plan (FMP). ODF is trying to show good faith that they are not clearcutting protected areas under the HCP. But they still have the old FMP constraints. The modeling was not for the HCP alone.
— Commissioner David Yamamoto of Tillamook County is quoted as saying that the HCP was developed “behind closed doors” and that “little information” has been released.
This is preposterous. ODF has had an extensive public outreach effort for years with tons of links on this webpage. Posted records go back to 2017. The recent draft Environmental Impact Statement ran to almost 2000 pages! And what is more, ODF asked to meet with county leaders during the HCP drafting, but the county leaders refused because their lawyer in the Linn County litigation told them not to meet. Yamamoto and facts parted ways long ago.
— OFIC claims “the state has nearly a century old contractual relationship” with hundreds of taxing districts.
False. The Oregon Supreme Court last year affirmed the appeals court decision that there is no statutory contract. This matter is settled under current law.
There has been a sudden and surprising turn at the Board of Forestry. Usually board meetings are scheduled months in advance, but late last week a special meeting of the board was scheduled for 4pm today (Wednesday). The only item on the agenda is the pending state forest Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). It might make for interesting watching. (at this youtube channel)
Here is a link to the OFIC op/ed: https://www.tillamookcountypioneer.net/department-of-forestry-mishandles-plan-for-state-forests-data-reveals-plan-forces-budgets-into-the-red/