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February 28, 2005
David Reinhard tosses bullcookies
Several times a week, Oregonian columnist David Reinhard regales the citizenry with his conservative talking points. Yesterday's column was no exception.
In his usual patronizing manner, Reinhard attacked Governor Ted Kulingoski for daring to appoint former Democratic Governor Les AuCoin to the Oregon Board of Forestry rather than reappointing rancher/farmer Chris Heffernan:
The governor has decided not to reappoint Chris Heffernan -- a rancher and small woodlands owner from Eastern Oregon who was recently named Oregon and Western Regional Tree Farmer of the Year -- in order to appoint someone who has gone out of his way to oppose the signature forest policy of the Oregon State Board of Forestry and the Kulongoski administration. That is, Les AuCoin.
Yes, the congressman-turned-commentator has opposed the forestry board's management plan for the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests and publicly supported last fall's Measure 34, which would have prohibited logging in more than half of Oregon's state forests. Of course, Kulongoski favored the board's plan and opposed Measure 34's irresponsible lock-up of the Tillamook, but never mind. The governor now wants to reward AuCoin's contrariness with a seat on the State Board of Forestry. AuCoin the Jefferson Public Radio pundit might call this "Kulongoski vs. Kulongoski."
My "real job" includes working with foresters, the forest products industry, enviornmental agencies and enviornmentalists, among others. I'm very familiar with tree farmers and with ranchers that have a stake with this issue. While I don't know Mr. Heffernan personally, I do know that ranchers and tree farmers tend to trump economics over enviornment.
Measure 34 was also known as the "50/50 Plan". The purpose of 34 was to create areas in two Oregon forests that would remain unharvested while allowing part of the forestland to be cut. The measure failed in November by a wide margin.
I personally didn't support 34 because of funding. Taxes on cut timber in Oregon help fund schools and essential services. Cutting that without having an adequate plan to replace the dollars wasn't something I could support. However, the enviornmental reasons for the measure are sound. If they bring it back again with a better funding piece, I would support it. The Oregon Board of Forestry actively opposed 34.
But the Board didn't oppose it for the same reason I did, in my opinion. The Board is made up of at least some individuals who profit personally from timber sales in Oregon. Here are the current members:
Barbara D. Craig is a partner at Stoel, Rives LLP attornies-at-law. Ms. Craig invests in a business that buys and sells timber and timber land, and personally represented some of them: specifically Longview Fibre Company.
Larry Giustina is a timber company executive. Giustina has worked on emphasizing the economic side of Oregon's forests.
Stephen Hobbs is Associate Dean for research at Oregon State University's college of forestry.
William Hutchison is an attorney with with Foster, Pepper and Tooze in Portland. Hutchison practices corporate, real property, cooperative and enviornmental law.
Jennifer Phillippi is Business Manager of Rough and Ready Lumber Company. She's also President of Perpetua Forests Company.
Diane Snyder is a rancher/landowner. Ms. Snyder is the executive director of Wallowa Resources, a nonprofit organization that seeks "to blend the ecological needs of the land with the economic needs of the community".
Chris Heffernan is a tree farmer and rancher from North Powder, Oregon.
Of the seven Oregon Board of Forestry members, five profit directly from timber sales in the State of Oregon. The OBF mission statement reads:
It is the Mission of the Oregon Board of Forestry to... lead Oregon in implementing policies and programs that promote environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable management of Oregon's 28 million acres of public and private forests.
It seems to me from the composition of this group there's a pretty heavy lean toward "economically".
AuCoin is an inspired choice specifically because he supported Measure 34. This board needs someone who wants to put enviornment over economics to act as a counterbalance. I also appreciate that Kulingoski isn't afraid to appoint someone that he's butted heads with in the past. It shows he doesn't need to put loyalists in positions of authority...something the current Republican Party appears to abhor.
Posted by Carla at February 28, 2005 01:42 PM