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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 2020)
community october1 2020 9 The Timber Industry of Today Part 4: The State of Our State Forests continued from page 7 relet, a protected seabird, which has led to reductions in logging in the forest and a drop in timber harvest revenues. The sale of the properties was meant to help correct the budget shortfall caused by the reductions. “Those who appreciate clean water, stately forests and access to our public lands are the big winners today,” said Josh Laughlin, executive director of the environmentally friendly group Cas- cadia Wildlands when the Seneca Jones sale was overturned. “Privatizing public land would have been a disaster for im- periled salmon and wildlife that rely on clean water and old forests to survive.” Industry and Coos County rep- resentatives saw the decision as a loss for local school funding, which timber harvests help fund. “The Elliott State Forest was set up to be managed sustain- ably and provide critical funding for the Oregon common school fund in perpetu- ity,” said Todd A. Payne, Seneca Jones chief executive officer. “This was done with tremendous thought and wisdom. The Elliott has gone from a revenue gen- erating asset worth hundreds of millions of dollars to a liability for the state.” “It’s an unfortunate decision for the schools,” added Coos County Com- missioner John Sweet. “Education is the real loser.” Currently the DSL and Oregon State University are exploring the pos- sibility of converting the Elliott into a State Research Forest. Controlling the Narrative As the Elliott State Forest issue exemplifies, the public is flooded with mixed messages about the timber indus- try and how it impacts our environment. As we noted in Part 3 of this series, tim- ber money plays a big part in Oregon politics – the timber industry gives more money to Oregon politicians than they do in any other state. Political lobby- ists on both sides in the “timber wars” are active in Salem, while also working to influence public opinion. The timber industry tells us they create jobs while practicing sustainable logging. Environ- mental groups tell us our drinking water and air are being poisoned while wildlife habitat is being destroyed. Meanwhile a newly formed statewide organization, Timber Unity, which is perceived as be- ing grassroots and centered right here in Vernonia, has added to the discord. Who can we believe and trust? The timber industry has a lot in- vested in Oregon. With so much money on the line we need reliable sources of information. In recent years journalists and news organizations’ ability to tell a balanced story has become suspect. Yet the Oregonian newspaper, with inves- tigative journalist Rob Davis, together with OPB’s Tony Schick, have been providing detailed reporting on timber industry practices, big money’s influ- ence in Oregon politics, and industrial logging’s impact on small communities. They’ve been a credible source of re- search and information on a subject that has needed some balanced exposure. As citizens we would also like to hope we would receive legitimate in- formation from our government agen- cies since they work for us, using our tax dollars. Unfortunately, that is not always the case in regards to our forests. In Au- gust of this year, the Oregonian’s Davis and OPB’s Schick published a disturbing report on the Oregon Forest Resource In- stitute (OFRI), a public agency provided with a $4 million annual budget from timber tax funds, and tasked with edu- cating the public about forest issues and products while encouraging landowners to use sound forestry practices. While OFRI does provide some useful information – I’ve quoted statis- tics from their sources numerous times in this series of articles – the agency has become more of a public-relations arm for the timber industry. Following Da- vis and Schick’s article Governor Brown ordered an audit into “ethical concerns” at the agency. At the center of the controversy are reports that staff at OFRI, which is prohibited by law from working to influ- ence governmental policy, used advertis- ing dollars to promote Oregon’s “strong logging laws” which in reality are weak- er than both Washington and Califor- nia’s; tried to interfere with the release of peer reviewed research from Oregon State University; and helped stop a re- search project at the University of Or- egon that reflected poorly on the timber industry. The investigation showed that staff regularly participated in timber industry legislative strategy meetings, helped plan a timber industry lobby- ing day in Salem, and notified industry representatives of pending research they thought was damaging and then helped craft industry responses. OFRI is overseen by a 13-person Board of Directors. The board’s 11 vot- ing members are directly connected to the timber industry and include nine rep- resentatives of timber producing compa- nies, with members from Weyerhaeuser Co., Hampton Lumber, Hancock For- est Management, WyEast Timber, and Seneca Jones Timber; one member rep- resenting small woodland owners; and one AFL-CIO representative for forest industry employees. The two non-voting representatives currently include the Dean of Oregon State University, and a member of the Oregon State University Extension Service who holds the only designated public seat on the Board. A Deputy State Forester serves as a liai- son to the Board. As reported by Davis and Schick, the public position had been held by Chris Edwards, a former state senator who resigned from the Board in January 2019 and became a lobbyist for the timber industry. In June of this year OFRI re- leased a 321-page draft report produced by Oregon State University, which found Oregon’s forest practices laws do not adequately protect some aspects of water quality, and recommended chang- continued on page 12 VERNONIA LOGGER STADIUM CAMPAIGN Imagine this... The Vernonia Logger Stadium Steering Committee, a group of alumni and community volunteers, are working to secure the resources to construct a covered stadium with capacity for 900 fans, concession stand, and restrooms at the sports field complex to serve the students and community while rooting on their Loggers. You can help make Vernonia Logger Stadium complete by sending your tax-deducible cash contribution, or making an in-kind, tax-deductible donation of materials or services. Let’s Go, Loggers! HERE! Vernonia Logger Stadium Steering Committee Jim Eckland Co-Chair Gordon Jarman Co-Chair Jan Bernardi Bret Bunke Jason Busch Brett Costley Kyle Cota Bryan Dennis Colton DeWitt Kathy Eckland Tony Hyde Kelly Jarman Thomas Jones Jim Krahn Scott Laird Darlene McLeod Jared McWhirter Mike Pihl John Roady Steve Whiteman Teresa Williams Traci Wolf < Yes, we can help build Vernonia Logger Stadium! ___$25 ___$50 ___$100 ___$250 ___$500 ___$1,000 ___Other $_____ Name _____________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________ City___________________State_______Zip______________ Email address for receipt __________________________________ Make checks payable to: Vernonia Athletic Dept. Mail to: Vernonia Logger Stadium, PO Box 73, Vernonia, OR 97064
