This week Oregon lawmakers held a hearing for a bill that would prevent the sale of the prized 82,500-acre Elliott State Forest. The potential sale of the state-owned tract, stemming from declining timber revenues, has become hotly contested in recent months, with state officials divided on the issue, and with sportsmen and conservation groups, and the general public, weighing in.
Senate Bill 847 would give the state the ability to remove the Forest, or any any unprofitable state land, from the public-school trust in which it is currently held, and which stipulates that it must generate revenue, to a different state agency or institution that could, in theory, better manage the property and prevent its sale. Removing the Forest from the public-school trust would keep the area open to the public, whereas selling it would close it off to hunting, fishing, and other recreation.
The Register-Guard notes that the bill is essentially a plan for the state to buy the Forest from itself, at a cost of roughly $100 million, in addition to continued timber revenue from the tract. The plan is backed by Governor Kate Brown, one of the Oregon State Land Board’s three members, who will ultimately decide the fate of the Forest. As the Register-Guard reports, the board’s two other members were unpersuaded by the plan when first presented with it, which doesn’t bode well for Brown’s efforts or for the Forest’s future. Not only will Brown need…
