A6
Oregon forest health and wildfi re
prevention eff orts stand to gain
Money included
in infrastructure bill
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Consult a
By MONICA SAMAYOA
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Oregon is set to receive
millions from the recently
signed infrastructure package
to improve forest health and
reduce wildfi re risks.
On Monday, U.S. Agricul-
ture Secretary Tom Vilsack,
U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, and
Gov. Kate Brown held a vir-
tual roundtable event to dis-
cuss the eff ects of climate
change in Oregon. Over the
past 20 months, Oregon has
experienced wildfi res that
have collectively burned
more than 1.8 million acres
and more than 4,000 homes.
The state also experienced
record-breaking heat waves
that killed 116 people, includ-
ing at least three people on
the job — all while also deal-
ing with a historic drought.
The Infrastructure Invest-
ment and Jobs Act, signed
into law last month by Pres-
ident Joe Biden, will steer
roughly $5 billion into the
state over the next fi ve years.
At least $39 million is to
support wildfi re risk reduc-
THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2021
PROFESSIONAL
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Fire damage in Elkhorn after the Beachie Creek fi re devastated the area in 2020.
tion eff orts that will include
money for prescribed burn-
ing and forest thinning.
Debate continues to play
out among forest scientists
and the timber industry about
whether prescribed burning
or tree cutting are the most
eff ective ways to restore
forest health. But there is a
growing consensus that for-
ests have become tinder-
boxes of overgrown brush
and dense-growing trees after
decades of aggressive fi re
suppression.
Overall, the package
directs $3.4 billion for nation-
wide wildfi re risk reduction.
Vilsack said the spending
refl ects a growing awareness
of the risks of climate change.
From 2010 to 2020, Ore-
gon has experienced 12
extreme weather events, cost-
ing the state up to $5 billion
in damages, according to a
White House fact sheet.
Schrader, who was part
of an eff ort to keep the infra-
structure bill on track when
its fate was uncertain, said
he expects the increased fed-
eral spending to be accom-
panied by closer coordina-
tion between the U.S. Forest
Service and Oregon’s state
foresters, private landown-
ers and the conservation
community.
“We’re actually going to
be able to give Oregonians
confi dence that there’s a plan
to address fi refi ghting,” the
Oregon Democrat said.
Q: What is love?
A: Now that is a difficult
Lawsuit critical of anti-terrorism center
Allegations of
unlawful spying
By MAXINE
BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
Several environmental,
Indigenous and social justice
advocates fi led suit Tuesday
against the Oregon Depart-
ment of Justice, alleging the
state’s TITAN Fusion Center
for intelligence gathering has
unlawfully spied on peace-
ful demonstrators fi ghting
the $10 billion Jordan Cove
pipeline.
It argues that the fusion
center – one of about 80
across the country that were
started in the wake of the
Sept. 11, 200 1, terrorist
attacks – is operating with-
out any state legislative
authority.
Attorneys from the Polic-
ing Project at New York Uni-
versity School of Law fi led
the suit in Marion County
Circuit Court on behalf of
four plaintiff s using the novel
legal argument in the fi rst lit-
igation initiated by the pub-
lic safety research nonprofi t.
The state has no law that
recognizes or regulates the
center, the suit says.
“Until the Oregon L eg-
islature decides to autho-
rize and set up appropriate
guardrails, they shouldn’t
be allowed to operate at all,”
said Farhang Heydari, the
Policing Project’s executive
director. “The lawsuit tells a
story of a fusion center that
operates largely in the dark
with little oversight. Our
focus is restoring checks and
balances on this rogue spy-
ing agency.’’
Kristina Edmunson, a
spokeswoman for the state
Department of Justice and
Attorney General Ellen
Rosenblum, said the depart-
ment is reviewing the lawsuit
and will respond in court.
She said when the depart-
ment learned of the con-
cerns about improper sur-
veillance of Jordan Cove
protesters, “We followed
up immediately and shortly
thereafter placed the Fusion
Center employee on admin-
istrative leave. After an inter-
nal investigation, we issued
the employee a pre dis-
missal notice and he chose to
resign.”
She said the center works
with federal, state and local
law enforcement agencies
to produce threat assess-
ments, offi cer safety bul-
letins, reports of missing
persons and general crime
bulletins. It also provides
training to law enforcement
agencies, businesses and fi rst
responders about various
public safety topics, includ-
ing active shooters, cyberse-
curity and crime trends. It’s
supported by both federal
grants and funding from the
state L egislature, she said.
The suit contends the
Fusion Center has over-
stepped its initial focus. The
U.S. Department of Home-
land Security created the
centers for federal, state and
local law enforcement agen-
cies to share information on
threats to help anticipate ter-
rorist attacks.
While the centers were
funded at fi rst through fed-
eral grants, the cost of keep-
ing them running has largely
fallen to states. Oregon’s
center is run through the
state Department of Jus-
tice’s Criminal Intelligence
Division.
The suit alleges the cen-
ter has coordinated intelli-
gence operations on Jordan
Cove with fi rms hired by the
private company funding the
project with the aim of sup-
pressing public dissent. Cal-
gary-based Pembina Pipeline
Corp. proposed a liquefi ed
natural gas export terminal
in Coos Bay with a feeder
pipeline, the Pacifi c Connec-
tor, stretching halfway across
Oregon.
Emails obtained by the
plaintiff s that were fi rst
reported by The Guardian
show that law enforcement
agencies, including the FBI,
have monitored opponents
of Jordan Cove and shared
information on an email list
that included a public rela-
tions company supporting
the pipeline project.
In one Jan. 7, 2019, email
shared by the plaintiff s with
The Oregonian , a local Coos
County deputy sheriff wrote
to the FBI, Oregon State
Police and a state employee
with the Fusion Center that
he was monitoring atten-
dance for an upcoming pro-
test against Jordon Cove
but was “hesitant to push
any information out to the
task force due to the lack of
a criminal nexus. This is for
your information only.”
He noted that 384 peo-
ple showed an interest in
attending and 98 people
sent RSVPs for the protest,
adding “most of the names
are recognized as residents
spread across the other three
pipeline counties.”
In the spring of 2019, the
Teneo public relations fi rm
hired by Pembina sent an
email to local law enforce-
ment agencies in Coos
County instructing them to
label all information shared
with the Fusion Center on
Jordan Cove and other gas
pipeline projects as “Criti-
cal Infrastructure informa-
tion,” so it could remain
confi dential.
On Dec. 1, the develop-
ers that had hoped to build
the Pacifi c Connector Pipe-
line and Jordan Cove Energy
Project told the Federal
Energy Regulatory Com-
mission they did not intend
to move forward with the
project.
Among the plaintiff s
in the suit are Ka’ila Far-
rell-Smith, a member of the
Klamath Tribes and a res-
ident of Modoc Point who
serves as a board member
for environmental justice
nonprofi t Rogue Climate;
Rowena Jackson, a mem-
ber of the Klamath Tribes
who lives in Klamath Falls;
Sarah Westover, a commu-
nity organizer and social jus-
tice advocate who lives in
Phoenix ; and Francis Eath-
erington, an environmen-
tal activist and president of
the Oregon Women’s Land
Trust, a nonprofi t based in
southern Oregon. They’ve
each helped organize opposi-
tion to Jordan Cove.
The plaintiff s want a judge
to declare Oregon’s TITAN
Fusion Center unlawful, halt
its operations and order the
center to destroy or expunge
all records on them and their
organizations.
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