I saw a bumper sticker on the back of a truck recently that said, “If you’re against logging, try using plastic toilet paper.” Just a few days earlier I was stopped at the train tracks at River Road around midnight and witnessed the passing of Seneca’s most recent loot: Thousands of freshly logged trees. I was saddened by the knowledge that somewhere nearby an empty wasteland now stands where all those once-majestic giants reigned.
Logging has been an issue of contention in Oregon for a long time though and is not news except for when the fiercely defended arguments on either side of the fence, about what logging practices should and should not consist of, are brought to a head. This is one of those times.
A decision on the future fate of the Elliott State Forest is planned for Tuesday. The Elliott, as it’s often referred to, is a 93,000-acre coastal rainforest situated south of Reedsport and north of Coos Bay that is home to a number of threatened and endangered species, including the marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl and coho salmon.
Here’s the issue: The forest has been clear-cut for decades to provide financial assistance to Oregon school districts through the Common School Fund, of which the state land board (composed of Governor Ted Kulongoski, Secretary of State Kate Brown and State Treasurer Ben Westlund) is trustee.
On Tuesday, the land board will discuss and decide whether to approve recommendations for the forests’ management that include setting a Dec. 31, 2011 deadline for either revising the current Habitat Conservation Plan, creating a new one with a “take avoidance” approach to the vulnerable species, or selling the forest.
But what are we really talking about here? Protecting species and a priceless forest, or making money for schools? The two goals don’t pair well. Bureaucratically speaking, the board’s specific charge is to “maximize long-term financial benefit to the Common School Fund” while also garnering the forests’ “greatest permanent value.”
The fact that these two issues are intertwined at all feels very unnatural to me, but it has been this way since way back in 1859 when Oregon was admitted to the Union and 3.4 million acres of land was originally designated to the state to help fund schools. And logging, though not the only input into the fund, is the main source of revenue generated from state school lands.
As for how the land board conducts itself, “It’s sort of a trade off between the ‘greatest’ part and the ‘permanent’ part,” said Eugene-based forest activist with Rising Tide, Samantha Chirillo, who often attends the board’s meetings. “If we’ve already cut down 90 percent of old growth Oregon forests and our schools are still in trouble …” she asked, not needing to finish the sentence. Today at Elliott, specifically, about 50 percent of its native forests remain.
Clear-cutting what’s left of Oregon’s precious wild land to make relatively piecemeal money for state schools is ridiculous. While the school districts may disagree, it doesn’t seem to me like the numbers justify the means. Logging done on the Elliott in 2009, for example, generated 9 million of the total 40 million distributed by the Common School Fund to Oregon’s 127 school districts. The districts that received the most, Portland and Bend, were given enough money to staff 45 and 13 full-time teachers respectively. In a state that employs over 45,000 K-12 teachers, these numbers are, while helpful, still minimal.
While the board must look out for the bottom line of the fund, it also needs to think about the long-term consequences of its logging practices. Of course it’s a trade-off because valuing the forest permanently means leaving it alone, and maximizing profit for the school fund means cutting it down. Twenty-seven protestors who recognized this contradiction stood up last summer and said “no” by blockading the road to a planned 80-acre clear-cut and setting up tree forts. They were arrested and now face $100,000 in restitution from the state (If you are inclined to help them financially with their legal battles, you can do so at forestdefensenow.org).
It’s time for the state land board to get creative. At least it realizes that the status quo isn’t working; that’s a start. A forest protection group, Cascadia Wildlands, is advocating that the forest be reserved as critical habitat for the species that live there, and considered a “carbon bank.” Looks like the board hasn’t totally disregarded the idea; on its agenda for this week’s meeting is to consider the recommendation that the board “develop a sound understanding of carbon market opportunities for the Elliott State Forest.”
If you’ve ever felt compelled to exercise your right to contact your government officials (Kulongoski, Brown, Westlund) and you care about preserving what Chirillo aptly called “the last of the best” of Oregon’s native forests, today would be a great time to do that. That saying, “there’s no better time than the present,” is particularly appropriate, I think, because tomorrow might literally be too late.
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