OREGON
Saturday, april 30, 2022
tHE OBSErVEr — A7
Oregon Court of Appeals overturns $1 billion timber verdict against state
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
SALEM — The Oregon Court
of Appeals Wednesday, April 27,
struck down a $1 billion jury ver-
dict that was intended to com-
pensate 14 county governments
for insufficient logging on state
forestlands.
A law that requires Oregon
to manage the forestland for the
“greatest permanent value” does
not create an “immutable promise”
to maximize revenue for the coun-
ties, the appeals court ruled.
The appellate court said that
“historically, ‘value’ has myriad
definitions, some of which could
relate to revenue production and
others that do not relate to revenue
production.”
The statute also directs that for-
ests be managed for the “greatest
permanent value” to the state,
rather than to the counties, which
means the text falls short of the
“clear and unmistakable intent” of
making a contractual promise, the
ruling said.
For that reason, a state judge
in Linn County wrongly refused
to dismiss the class action lawsuit
against the state government, the
ruling said.
A jury determined the state
of Oregon violated a contract
Capital press, File
The Oregon Court of Appeals has overturned a $1 billion jury verdict against the state government that sought to compensate
counties for insufficient logging on state forests.
requiring it to maximize revenue
from forestlands donated by the
counties in the 1930s and ’40s after
a month-long trial in 2019.
State forests must be managed
for the “greatest permanent value”
by law, but the 14 counties claimed
the Oregon Department of Forestry
impermissibly expanded that defi-
nition beyond its original intent.
Under language adopted in the
late 1990s, the “greatest perma-
nent value” was changed to include
environmental and recreational
considerations that restricted
timber harvests, shortchanging the
14 counties and tax districts within
them of revenues, the plaintiffs
claimed.
Attorneys for Oregon appealed
the jury verdict on the grounds that
the counties didn’t have an enforce-
able contract that dictated how state
forest officials must manage the
nearly 700,000 acres of donated
property.
The law governing state forest-
lands pertains to “matters of state-
wide concern” that cannot be chal-
lenged in court by the counties,
state attorneys claimed. As political
subdivisions of the Oregon’s gov-
ernment, the counties cannot sue
over such state policies.
Federal environmental laws
enacted since the property was
donated, such as the Endangered
Species Act, also effectively limit
how much timber can be extracted
from state forestlands, according to
state attorneys.
The counties claimed that
Oregon forestry officials weren’t
obligated to create habitat for
federally-protected species that
resulted in logging restrictions.
In any case, the counties said the
state government can alter forest
management policies but must till
pay them damages for breaching
the contract.
Counties provide health care
and other functions under contract
with the state government, so they
must be able to rely on such agree-
ments being enforceable, the plain-
tiffs said. If the counties had known
the state government could re-in-
terpret the contract’s terms at will,
they’d never have donated such
huge amounts of forestlands.
Oregon launches app to make sharing COVID-19 vaccination status easier
State makes app
available in 13
languages
By FEDOR ZARKHIN
The Oregonian
SALEM — Oregon
launched a $2.45 million app
this week aimed at making it
easier to prove and verify that
someone has been vaccinated
against COVID-19, nearly a
month later than previously
promised and after pandemic
restrictions have been lifted.
The project has been
in the works since at least
November, when Oregon
health officials spoke about it
to state lawmakers. In early
March, the health authority
said it was “on track” to
launch it by the end of the
month but the official rollout
didn’t happen until Monday,
April 25, when the agency
announced on Twitter that
people could sign up.
By 8 a.m. April 26,
1,425 people had registered,
Oregon Health Authority
spokesperson Rudy Owens
said in an emailed response to
questions.
The concept of an easy-
to-use app with verifiable
vaccine information had
appeal earlier in the pan-
demic, when entering some
or all businesses required
wearing a mask or displaying
vaccination certification, cre-
ating logistical challenges for
some companies and con-
cerns about fake vaccine
cards.
But state officials earlier
this year lifted requirements,
prompting many, but not all,
businesses to similarly stop
masking measures or vacci-
nation checks.
When asked, the Oregon
Health Authority did not say
how many people it expects
will use the tool. Nor did the
spokesperson answer directly
whether the cost of the project
was justified for the number
of people OHA expected
would use the tool.
“The My Electronic Vac-
cine Card provides an equi-
table and accessible means
for all individuals to main-
tain their important health
MORE INFORMATION
To get the QR code, a person has to go to myelectronicvaccinecard.
oregon.gov, provide their name, date of birth and the email or phone
number they gave when getting vaccinated. Once OHA verifies the person
is in their statewide vaccination records, the agency sends them a link
with the QR code, which can then be stored on their phone as a photo, in
a digital wallet or as a PDF file or printed out on paper. People can fill out
an OHA form requesting help if the state doesn’t verify their vaccination
status.
Businesses, in turn, can scan the QR code through a different app, such as
SMART Health Card QR Code, which according to the company does not
store users’ information.
records, while also pro-
viding a convenience factor
that means residents don’t
ever have to worry about not
having or losing their cards if
they need to use it,” Owens
said.
Owens said Oregon
worked closely with Wash-
ington and California in
developing its app, which he
said is available in 13 lan-
guages. Both those states’
vaccine verification systems
saw high uptake, Owens said,
pointing to a February Wash-
ington news release that said
its system had been used to
generate 1 million QR codes.
Oregon businesses,
including bars, restaurants,
movie theaters and live
show venues can require
proof of COVID-19 vaccina-
tion before allowing patrons
inside. Until now, they have
been relying predominantly
on the paper cards people get
when they get the shot or a
photo of those cards stored on
a cellphone.
OHA’s app provides
people vaccinated in Oregon
with another option — a
digital QR code accessible
by cellphone that, when
scanned by a business,
shows an individual’s name,
date of birth, when they got
vaccinated and which vac-
cine they received.
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