In a letter to its members, Associated Oregon Loggers has sounded the alarm over a number of bills in the state’s House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee that AOL says will increase or change harvest taxation, implement a new timber severance tax, and eliminate Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI).
AOL says bill HB 2070 will extend privilege taxes on merchantable forest products harvested on forestlands. HB 2379 will impose a 5% severance tax on forest owners at the time of harvest. And HB 2357 will eliminate OFRI and its funding by re-directing the portion of the Forest Products Harvest Tax that funds OFRI to the Oregon Dept. of Forestry.