FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sara Duncan
Phone: 503-828-2373
Email: sarad@gallatin.com
PROFESSIONAL FORESTERS FILE INITIATIVES TO PROTECT PROVEN FORESTRY PRACTICES AND REDUCE WILDFIRE RISK
Three-Part Plan Safeguards Landowner Rights from Risky Anti-Forestry Management Proposals
[SALEM, November 5, 2019] – Professional foresters and forest landowners filed a package of citizen initiatives for the November 2020 General Election aimed at protecting the rights and proven forestry practices being put at-risk from radical anti-forestry ballot initiatives currently being pursued by environmental extremists.
“Oregon has some of the nation’s strongest environmental protections to ensure clean drinking water, require the replanting of millions of new trees and that keep our private forests and environment safe from catastrophic wildfires,” said Jim James, a chief petitioner of the three citizen initiatives and a Foster-based professional forester.
“But risky, radical proposals for the 2020 ballot would end proven forestry practices, preventing millions of new seedlings from growing into healthy forests and creating greater risks of dangerous fires that destroy our environment and pollute our air. We are committed to protecting what works and doing everything we can to defeat these risky, radical proposals.”
The initiatives filed today protect proven forestry practices and ensure the rights of forest landowners to responsibly manage their forests for both private and public benefit.
The Healthy Forests, Wildfire Reduction Plan includes:
- The Oregon Forest Science Standards Act: Requires forest management be guided by peer-reviewed science;
- The Forestry Oversight Improvement Act: Adds forestry experts to Oregon’s State Board of Forestry; and
- The Fair and Just Compensation Act: Compensates property owners when government activities unfairly destroy or devalue their property.
According to statistics from the Oregon Department of Forestry, in the past 10 years, 80 percent of forest acres burned by uncontrolled wildfire in Oregon have occurred on neglected, unmanaged federal forests. Although Oregon’s 2019 wildfire season remained relatively calm, over the past decade, more than 2.5 million acres of federal forestland has burned in Oregon, a direct result of years-long litigation over forest management on federal lands, even for health and disease purposes.
“Professional forestry is working on private forest lands in Oregon – for the environment, for people and for wildlife. When we protect the rights of Oregon forest landowners, we reduce the risk of catastrophic fires that destroy our environment and pollute our air. When we protect the rights of forest landowners, we ensure millions of newly replanted trees can grow and carbon pollution is pulled from the air,” said James.
###
