Gov. Kate Brown on Friday unveiled a plan meant to keep the Elliott State Forest in public ownership.
Brown’s plan calls for a $100 million bond payment to the state’s Common School Fund, which holds the land in trust and uses revenue from the land to pay for public education. That payment would be used to withdraw the forest’s high-value habitat, like steep slopes, old growth stands and riparian areas, from the school fund trust.
The rest of the land would have a blueprint developed outlining which land could be logged sustainably or set off-limits to protect endangered species, Brown said.
The governor said she expected the timber harvest to average 20 million board feet a year for the next 100 years.
State officials have long pondered selling the 82,500-acre forest to raise money for Oregon schools. The state received a $221 million bid for the forest in December.
The Elliott forest spans Coos and Douglas counties and is home to such threatened species as coastal coho salmon, marbled murrelet and the northern spotted owl. Long a workhorse for the Common School Fund, the forest has in recent years become a money loser for the state. Logging plunged in 2012 amid lawsuits from environmental groups.
Brown said she also wanted to help tribes regain ownership of ancestral lands in the forest.
Previously, Brown asked the Department of State Lands to explore options beyond selling the forest to Lone Rock Timber Resources and the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribes of Indians.
Brown is one of three officials on the State Land Board, which will ultimately decide the fate of the forest.
The other members are Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and State Treasurer Tobias Read. The Board will discuss the forest in its upcoming Feb. 14 meeting.
— Anna Marum and Rob Davis
amarum@oregonian.com
rdavis@oregonian.com
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