OREGON NEWS
6A — BAKER CITY HERALD
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2020
Timber firms, environmental groups agree on logging law
By Sam Stites
Oregon Capital Bureau
A new deal between
Oregon’s timber industry and
environmentalists to protect
forest waters, modernize log-
ging regulations and create a
new conservation plan was an-
nounced Monday by Gov. Kate
Brown and representatives of
both interests.
The two sides have been at
odds over policy and practices
for decades, and this agree-
ment aims to create a media-
tion process for updating the
Oregon Forest Practices Act,
passed in 1971.
The deal has three major
points, the fi rst being partici-
pation in a mediated process
to change the Forest Practices
Act by creating a conservation
plan for all private timberland
to protect threatened and
endangered species and pro-
vide certainty for the timber
industry.
The second piece is agree-
ment over legislation that
would require timber compa-
nies to notify nearby residents
when aerial spraying of pesti-
cides occurs and place buffers
along streams in Southern
Oregon forests that supply
drinking water.
Finally, both sides agreed to
drop forestry-related ballot ini-
tiatives and pending litigation.
Environmental groups were
working to get stricter forest
rules into law by going to the
voters this fall.
FLOODING
Greg Miller, representing the
forestry coalition.
“This is a shared recognition
of the diverse benefi ts Oregon’s
forests provide and the need
for more meaningful dialogue
around forest issues across the
state,” Miller said.
According to Brown, the
agreement between the two
sides started when CEOs
from the state’s largest timber
companies approached her to
fi nd a way out of the embroiled
dialogue surrounding timber
practices and conservation.
A series of conversations fol-
lowed over the past four weeks
that led to the agreement.
For Van Dyke, the agree-
ment culminates more than 20
Amanda Loman / The Coos Bay World via AP years of bickering and lawsuits
A deal between Oregon’s timber industry and environmental groups will revise the
between timber interests and
state’s Forest Practices Act.
environmentalists over what
takes place in Oregon’s forests
ine
show
of
good
faith
from
ev-
while Washington state led the
“This agreement is a genuine show
eryone involved,” Brown said
way in conserving endangered
of good faith from everyone involved.
at a news conference Monday species and protecting drink-
All sides have agreed this process of
morning. “It ensures that all
ing water.
key
voices
will
be
heard
in
the
“While the Wild Salmon
improving the Oregon Forest Practices
process, including our vital
Center and many of the sign-
Act will be informed by science and
small-woodland owners and
ers of this (memorandum of
driven by science.”
Oregon’s federally recognized understanding) today have
tribes. All sides have agreed
been part of that 20 years
— Oregon Governor Kate Brown
this process of improving the
of tension, the results have
Oregon Forest Practices Act
been a lack of trust, gridlock
The agreement was joined
side. Oregon Wild, Cascadia
will be informed by science
on forest policy and growing
by Hampton Lumber, Wey-
Wildlands, Beyond Toxics, the and driven by science.”
public demand for broader
erhaeuser, Stimson Lumber,
Wild Salmon Center, Oregon
Present in Brown’s cer-
reform of laws,” Van Dyke said.
Roseburg Forest Products,
League of Conservation Vot-
emonial offi ce to make the
“Today we’re starting a new
Hancock Natural Resource
ers and Rogue Riverkeeper
announcement with her was
approach.”
Group and Port Blakely and
highlight the environmental
Bob Van Dyke of the Wild
From a 10,000-foot level, the
the Oregon Small Woodlands groups that signed on.
Salmon Center, representing
deal seems to favor environ-
Association on the timber
“This agreement is a genu- the environmentalists, and
mental interests, but Miller
into their system to remind them
to make regular trips around the
impacted locations.
Continued from Page 3A
Riverview Mobile Home Estates
Roberts said Pendleton police
have been aided by the city’s affected has also been easier to monitor
areas being isolated to the Riverside because there’s only one road in and
neighborhood on the east end and
one road out, Roberts said, and so far
there has been one report of a theft
a smaller location on the west end
at the trailer park that is under
where they’ve been able to focus
investigation.
patrols.
According to an email from
“Unfortunately, it hasn’t slowed
Milton-Freewater Police Chief Doug
down any calls for service coming
between those locations,” he said.
Boedigheimer, his department hasn’t
According to Roberts, offi cer’s
made any arrests of looters, but has
vehicles have alerts programmed
increased patrols in neighborhoods
east of Highway 11 and South Main
Street where people were evacu-
ated between Friday and Sunday
morning.
Hermiston Police Chief Jason
Edmiston said other than the sub-
stantial damage suffered at River-
front Park and surrounding areas,
Hermiston neighborhoods weren’t
impacted like those elsewhere in the
county. However, a disruption to reg-
ular traffi c patterns led to a higher
volume of vehicles and a few crashes
in town and on Highway 395.
“The infl ux of traffi c caused quite
the nightmare,” he said.
With much of the most impacted
areas coming outside city limits
along the county’s back roads, Uma-
tilla County Sheriff Terry Rowan
said he has directed his deputies to
patrol those areas as often as pos-
sible. But many of the more affected
areas, such as Bingham Road, Walla
Walla River Road and Mill Creek
Road, are impassible even for police.
However, Rowan said neighbors
who are waiting out the aftermath of
the fl oods in those areas of the coun-
ty have been “vigilant” in watching
believes that isn’t so.
According to Miller, the
timber industry in Oregon is
proud of its environmental
stewardship and is equally
interested in protecting water
from aerial spraying of herbi-
cides and using technology to
let local residents know in real
time of spraying.
“This is going to be a best-
in-class practice for real-time
notifi cation, increasing the dis-
tance for the notifi cations, and
having the spray records avail-
able within 24 hours,” Miller
said. “Those kinds of things are
diffi cult to develop in terms of
execution on the ground. ... I
think that’s the thing that got
us over the hurdle.”
The agreement cites moving
forward with a science-based
approach, but often the two
sides have offered different
science to back their positions.
Miller and Van Dyke agreed
that while they guarantee
there still will be differences
of opinion, they’re committed
to using science as a means to
engage and work together on
solutions.
Brown said that, moving
forward, the next step would
be to shepherd through the
Legislature new rules and
buffers on aerial spraying in
forests and notifi cation for
local residents. After that, both
sides will update the Oregon
Forest Practices Act and create
the statewide habitat conser-
vation plan.
out for the homes of neighbors who
evacuated.
In a press release Monday night,
the Confederated Tribes of the Uma-
tilla Indian Reservation Incident
Command announced it has directed
the Umatilla Tribal Police Depart-
ment to send additional patrols to
affected areas on the reservation.
“Anyone traveling along upper
Cayuse and Bingham roads may be
subject to a traffi c stop to determine
residency and offi cial business to
be conducted in affected areas,” the
release said.