Gov. John Kitzhaber said Oregon should step up to help break the deadlock over logging on federal forests, which account for 60% of Oregon’s total.
Kitzhaber spoke this morning to the Oregon Board of Forestry, which he has asked to offer a statement to Oregon’s congressional delegation and other federal officials about how forest issues should be resolved.
“The status quo does not work,” he said. “The sooner we can change that, the better off Oregon is going to be.”
Kitzhaber said his proposed two-year budget, which he has submitted to state lawmakers, contains money to promote changes in how federal forests on both sides of the Cascades are managed.
He acknowledged that neither he nor state officials have direct authority over federal lands, but what does or does not happen there affects the rest of Oregon.
From The Statesman Journal: https://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130109/UPDATE/130109025/Gov-Kitzhaber-says-state-should-step-up-break-logging-deadlock-federal-forests?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|News|p&gcheck=1