BY KERA ABRAHAM
Redefining Values
Measure 34 sees the forest for the trees.
A
current Oregon statute requires
the Forestry Board to manage
state forests for the “greatest per-
manent value.” But proponents of Measure
34, arguing that the board too often inter-
prets this mandate as free reign to log, want
better protections for the forest.
“Right now, the primary value on our
forest is timber production,” says Yes on 34
campaign manager Mari Ann Gest.
The new management plan for the
Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests
expands logging to more than 85 percent of
the lands. The projected timber harvest for
2004, at 250 million board feet, is 61 per-
cent greater than the 2002 harvest.
Measure 34 seeks to curtail the timber
industry’s influence on the forestry board
by redefining the “greatest permanent
value” of state forests. The measure would:
• Consider conservation to be as benefi-
cial to the state as logging;
• Conserve 50 percent of the Tillamook
and Clatsop State Forests, leaving the other
50 percent open to timber harvests;
• Balance logging with all other forest
uses, including conservation of wildlife and
fish habitat, protection of drinking water,
and expansion of recreational uses;
• Establish an Independent Restoration
Science Team to make management recom-
mendations to the Board of Forestry;
• Finance restoration work with 10 per-
cent of timber revenues;
• Give 5 percent of state forest timber
receipts to the Oregon Common School
Fund, ensuring that local schools continue
to receive ample funding; and
• Guarantee a family wage for forest
workers.
M ONEY M ATTERS
The No on 34 campaign, spearheaded
by the Alliance to Keep our State Forests
Working, has raised $2.3 million as of their
Sept. 27 finance report. Ninety-eight per-
cent of the contributions are from timber
companies. The Yes on 34 campaign has
only raised $84,000, most of it from indi-
vidual donors.
Opponents to Measure 34 argue that
public schools in Tillamook, Clatsop and
Washington Counties will lose funding if
logging is restricted. But the measure’s sup-
porters counter that local public schools
will continue to receive about $18.5 million
annually from the forests, and lost timber
revenue can be recovered through recre-
ation fees and tourism.
Opponents also claim that the measure
would cost thousands of jobs in the timber
industry. “It’s particularly devastating in the
rural communities,” says No on 34
spokesperson Pat McCormick. “These are
already communities that suffer from a lack
of family-wage jobs.”
But timber jobs are already eroding.
According to the Oregon Employment
Department, jobs in the wood product sec-
tor have been declining for half a century
— from more than 3,000 Tillamook County
jobs in 1952 to about 500 in 1999.
Regions that are heavily dependent on
timber jobs are likely to face more unem-
ployment than those with diverse economies.
“In general, greater diversification is very
beneficial, and there is some doubt about the
sustainability of the timber industry,” says
UO economist Trudy Ann Cameron.
A more sustainable source of jobs, says
Gest, is tourism. A 2002 Oregon Tourism
Commission report shows that 8,600 jobs —
or more than 20 percent of total employment
— in Tillamook and Clatsop counties are
dependent on tourism. The forests draw an
estimated 100,000 visitors annually to engage
in recreational activities such as fishing, camp-
ing, hiking, hunting, bird-watching, kayaking,
biking, and riding off-road vehicles.
More than 100 coastal business owners
endorse Measure 34, concerned that
Tillamook and Clatsop Counties could face
declining tourism revenue and property val-
ues under the current forest management plan.
“There are a lot of things that worry me
about the current plan,” says professional
fishing guide Bob Rees, who relies on live
fish from the Tillamook. “We’ve already
lost five of our six fisheries, and it’s just
going to lead to more closures.”
‘The timber industries
are treating the
Tillamook like it’s
their forest. It’s not.
It belongs to the
citizens of Oregon.’
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— M ARI A NN G EST
Yes on 34 Campaign Manager
S PECIAL I NTERESTS
State law specifies that no more than
three of the seven members of the state
Forestry Board are permitted to have finan-
cial conflicts of interest, but Measure 34’s
authors suspect closer ties.
“By our estimation, it’s arguable that all
seven have conflicts of interest,” says Yes
on 34 Outreach Director Lyndon Ruhnke.
Opponents argue that Measure 34 chal-
lenges a plan informed by seven years of
public process, instead allowing an inde-
pendent team of scientists to guide forest
management. “Without any public input,
they are responsible for writing the plan
that will establish reserves in the Tillamook
and Clatsop Forests,” says McCormick.
But in written comments received by the
state, the public favored watershed protec-
tions and improved recreational opportuni-
ties over logging by a ratio of 10-1, says
Gest. And the forestry board may have sub-
verted the public process by making side
deals with the timber industry (see “Dispute
over extra staffing derails plans for cutting in
state forests,” The Oregonian, 4/10).
Measure 34 is not radical; it is a com-
promise, says Gest. It allows for logging on
half of the Tillamook and Clatsop state
forests while conserving water quality,
wildlife habitat, and recreational values.
“The timber industries are treating the
Tillamook like it’s their forest,” says Gest.
“It’s not. It belongs to the citizens of
Oregon.”
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OCTOBER 14, 2004 13