Path sighted to reach funding solution as diverse groups navigate forest use
When Josephine County’s Long Term Funding Citizens Task Force met June 14, a series of arguments erupted between representatives of lumber companies and wild forest preservation interests.
But the group’s Thursday, July 12 meeting at Anne Basker Auditorium in Grants Pass resulted in the discovery of some common ground.
The task force was one of three assembled by the Board of Josephine County Commissioners following the defeat of a May 15 public safety levy. It was proposed due to decreased federal payments in lieu of taxes on federally controlled O&C land in the county.
A one-year extension of the federal safety net eventually was authorized. However, stable long-term funding remains an issue, and the task force was assembled from members of the local business, government, environmental and timber communities to find possible solutions. The other task forces are dedicated to short-term funding solutions and alternative revenue sources.
During the July 12 meeting, task force member Kevin Marr said that the group’s previous meeting “seemed to be a battle.” However, he asked if all involved could agree that timber would be a part of the solution, not all of it.
Rancher Don King said that persons in resource-based industries are good stewards of the land, because they rely on it to make a living.
“We’re all in fields that make us environmentalists,” King said. “It’s to my advantage to keep a multiple use concept in mind.”
Julie Norman, of Cave Junction-based Siskiyou Project, said that some timber can be harvested on O&C land, but that protections must be preserved for salmon habitat and delicate serpentine areas.
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The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input on proposed thinning projects, Norman said, adding that the Bureau of Land Management continues to plan controversial sales in old-growth forests.
Linn County Commissioner John Lindsay, who attended the meeting, said that raising taxes to increase revenues is not a viable option for many of the affected counties.
“We don’t have the economy,” Lindsay said. “We don’t have a base you can tax. It isn’t going to happen.”
Jack Shipley, speaking on the behalf of environmental interests, said that balance could be achieved between industry and preservation.
“I think there can be a solution. I don’t think any of these issues are mutually exclusive,” Shipley said. “I think we can get volume and maintain habitat at the same time.” He said an acceptable solution would have to use “moderation” and have a “well-thought-out plan.”
Jim Raffenburg, chairman of the Josephine County Board of Commissioners and the task force, asked Norman if there was an annual yield amount that would be acceptable to environmental interests.
“There is some number, I just don’t know what it is,” Norman said.
Marr said that the group needs to obtain figures on the amount of timber on federal land, and how much timber revenue the county would need to ensure its financial security.
Dave Streeter, of Rough & Ready Lumber Co. in Illinois Valley, said that timber production must come from a variety of tree diameters.
“Not everyone is set up to use small-diameter logs,” Streeter said.
He also said that species don’t limit their habitation to late-successional forests, and that “habitat needs to shift over landscapes over time” and do so naturally. As such, he said, setting aside areas specifically for long-term harvest and habitat is unrealistic.
Cameron Krauss, also of Rough & Ready, said that regenerative harvests and selective thinning would not be enough to sustain the industry.
“You can’t just keep thinning forever,” he said.
Raffenburg then asked whether or not the O&C land should fall under the protection of the Oregon Forest Protection Act (OFPA) instead of the federal National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). Also discussed were ways to improve the environmental protections provided under OFPA in order to retain more local control of the O&C land.
Krauss said that OFPA only applies to private land, and does not cover lands owned by the government.
Lindsay said that OFPA is a “great, sound law,” and did not need to be altered.
“We would never be in favor of changing OFPA,” he said.
The task force will hold its next meeting Aug. 9 at Anne Basker Auditorium at 1:30 p.m.
