A10
OREGON
East Oregonian
Saturday, April 30, 2022
Oregon Court of Appeals overturns
$1B timber verdict against the state
By MATEUSZ
PERKOWSKI
Capital Press
Alex Wittwer/EO Media Group, File
A nurse administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a student at East-
ern Oregon University, La Grande, on May 4, 2021. Almost a
year later, Oregon has launched a $2.45 million app to make
it easier to prove and verify someone has been vaccinated
against COVID-19.
State launches digital
vaccine card; unclear
how many will use it
By FEDOR ZARKHIN
The Oregonian
SA LEM — Oregon
this week launched a $2.45
million app aimed at making
it easier to prove and verify
that someone has been vacci-
nated against COVID-19.
The app’s release comes
nearly a month later than
previously promised and
after pandemic restrictions
have been lifted.
The project has been in the
works since at least Novem-
ber, when Oregon health offi -
cials 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
offi cial rollout didn’t happen
until Monday, when the
agency announced on Twit-
ter that people could sign up.
By 8 a.m. Tuesday, 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 verifi-
able vaccine information
had appeal earlier in the
pandemic, when enter-
ing some or all businesses
required wearing a mask or
displaying vaccination certi-
fi cation, creating logistical
challenges for some compa-
nies and concerns about fake
vaccine cards.
But state offi cials lifted
requirements in March,
prompting many, but not all,
businesses to similarly stop
masking measures or vacci-
nation checks.
When asked, the Oregon
Health Authority did not say
Tuesday how many people it
expects will use the tool. Nor
did the spokesperson answer
directly whether the cost of
the project was justifi ed for
the number of people OHA
expected would use the tool.
“The My Electronic
Vaccine Card provides an
equitable and accessible
means for all individuals
to maintain their important
health records, while also
providing 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.
OHA’s app provides
people vaccinated in Oregon
with another option — a digi-
tal QR code accessible by
cellphone that, when scanned
by a business, shows an indi-
vidual’s name, date of birth,
when they got vaccinated and
which vaccine they received.
The tool does not work for
people who were vaccinated
outside of Oregon.
To get the QR code, a
person has to go to myelec-
tronicvaccinecard.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 the statewide
vaccination records, the
agency sends a link with the
QR code, which can then be
stored on a phone as a photo,
in a digital wallet or as a PDF
fi le or printed out on paper.
People can fi ll 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.
The QR system will not be
mandatory, and it is unlikely
the digital card will replace
existing methods businesses
accept for proof of vaccination.
Hansell, Lively appointed
to the cultural trust board
Wallowa County Chieftain
SALEM — State Sen.
Bill Hansell, R-Athena, has
been appointed to the Oregon
Cultural Trust board of direc-
tors by Senate President Peter
Courtney.
Hansell, a third-term sena-
tor who represents District 29
in Eastern Oregon, fills a
spot held previously by Cliff
Bentz, who now is the 2nd
District Representative in the
U.S. House.
“It’s an honor to serve on
the Cultural Trust Board of
Directors,” Hansell said in a
press release. “I am excited
for the opportunity and
the work we will be able to
accomplish.”
A second appointee to
the board, Rep. John Lively,
D-Springfield, has ties to
the region. Lively was born
in La Grande and lived in
Wallowa County before his
family moved West in 1963.
Lively, a former Springfi eld
mayor who has been in the
Legislature since 2012, was
appointed by former House
Speaker Tina Kotek, replac-
ing former Rep. Margaret
Doherty.
“Cultural arts are an
important part of the qual-
ity of life in every Oregon
community,” Lively said.
Hansell
Lively
“It is an honor to serve on
the Cultural Trust Board
which supports efforts to
sustain and enhance off erings
throughout our state.”
Hansell and Lively both
will “serve in an advisory,
ex offi cio non-voting capacity
per the Cultural Trust stat-
ute,” according to the release.
“We are extremely proud
that two such passionate and
dedicated Legislators have
committed their talents to the
Cultural Trust,” Niki Price,
chair of the Cultural Trust
Board, said in the release.
“We welcome their breadth
of experience and expertise
and know they will make
substantial contributions
to our work in protecting
and strengthening Oregon
culture.”
The trust was established
in 2001 by the state Legisla-
ture as an “ongoing funding
engine” for arts and culture
in Oregon. Residents gave a
record $5.55 million to the
trust in 2021.
SA LEM — T he
Oregon Court of Appeals
on Wednesday, April 27,
struck down a $1 billion jury
verdict that was intended
to compensate 14 county
governments for insuffi cient
logging on state forestlands.
A law that requires
Oregon to manage the forest-
land for the “greatest perma-
nent value” does not create
an “immutable promise” to
maximize revenue for the
counties, the appeals court
ruled.
The appellate court said
that “historically, ‘value’ has
myriad defi nitions, some of
which could relate to reve-
nue production and others
that do not relate to revenue
production.”
The statute also directs
that forests 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 contrac-
tual promise, the ruling said.
For that reason, a state
judge in Linn County
wrongly refused to dismiss
the class action lawsuit
against the state govern-
ment, the ruling said.
John DiLorenzo, attorney
for the counties, vowed to
challenge the ruling before
the Oregon Supreme Court
because it “does not align
with the law or the evidence
we presented at trial.”
The ruling doesn’t take
into account the economic
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Bureau, File
The Oregon Court of Appeals on Wednesday, April 27, 2022,
overturned a $1 billion jury verdict intended to compen-
sate 14 county governments for insuffi cient logging on
state forestlands.
and social damage that rural
communities have suff ered
after the state government
changed its logging policies
without input from the coun-
ties, he said in an email.
Oregon’s leaders have
decided the timber econ-
omy is inconsistent with
their “urban values,” but
the resulting problems
must be addressed to bridge
the urban-rural divide,
DiLorenzo said.
“The lack of produc-
tive employment in these
communities has led to
substance abuse, violence,
lack of educational oppor-
tunity and general hopeless-
ness and despair,” he said.
After a month-long trial
in 1990, a jury determined
the State of Oregon violated a
contract requiring it to maxi-
mize revenue from forest-
lands donated by the counties
in the 1930s and ‘40s.
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 definition
beyond its original intent.
Under language adopted
in the late 1990s, the “great-
est permanent value” was
changed to include envi-
ronmental and recreational
considerations that restricted
timber harvests, shortchang-
ing the 14 counties and tax
districts within them of reve-
nues, the plaintiff s claimed.
Attorneys for Oregon
appealed the jury verdict on
the grounds that the counties
didn’t have an enforceable
contract that dictated how
state forest officials must
manage the nearly 700,000
acres of donated property.
The law gover ning
state forestlands pertains
to “matters of statewide
concern” that cannot be chal-
lenged in court by the coun-
ties, state attorneys claimed.
As political subdivisions of
the Oregon government, the
counties cannot sue over
such state policies.
Federal environmen-
tal laws enacted since the
property was donated, such
as the Endangered Species
Act, also effectively limit
how much timber can be
extracted from state forest-
lands, according to state
attorneys.
The counties claimed that
Oregon forestry officials
weren’t obligated to create
habitat for federally-pro-
tected species that resulted
in logging restrictions. In
any case, the counties said
the state government can
alter forest management
policies but must still pay
them damages for breach-
ing the contract.
HIV isn’t
just a big city issue.
More than half of Oregonians with HIV
live outside of Portland, often in suburbs and
small towns like this one.
Good neighbors chip in to get the job done. And we’ve got
work to do on HIV prevention. People in rural Oregon are
more likely to get a late-stage diagnosis, and a lack of HIV
treatment may harm your health, or your partner’s. Detected
early, HIV is more easily managed and you can live a long,
healthy life. Getting tested is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Learn more and find free testing at endhivoregon.org
.