Contact:
Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, 541-844-8182
Ed Putnam, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Oregon Chapter, 541-678-3548
Christy Splitt, Oregon League of Conservation Voters, 971-404-7279
Bob Sallinger, Audubon Society of Portland, 503-380-9728
Cameron La Follette, Oregon Coast Alliance, 503-391-0210
Tom Wolf, Oregon Council Trout Unlimited, 503-883-1102

State of Oregon Shelves Elliott State Forest Privatization Idea
97% of Public Comment Encourages a Conservation Solution for the Iconic Forest

The State of Oregon has decided against privatizing the Elliott State Forest after receiving overwhelming public comment encouraging a conservation solution for the 93,000-acre state forest located northeast of Coos Bay. 1,147 out of 1,185 comments received during the public process, or 97%, encouraged the Department of State Lands and the Oregon State Land Board to protect the iconic forests for its outstanding water quality, salmon and wildlife habitat, hunting and fishing opportunities and its remarkable ability to store carbon to mitigate climate change.

Instead of privatizing the forest, the Land Board, made up of Governor John Kitzhaber, Secretary Kate Brown, and Treasurer Ted Wheeler, will continue to explore various management alternatives for the Elliott that meet public expectations as well as its Common School Fund and Endangered Species Act mandates. The State Land Board will meet Tuesday, December 9 from 9 am-12 pm at 775 Summer St. NE in Salem to further discuss future management scenarios and has extended the meeting to handle what is expected to be significant public comment.

“The state of Oregon should be given kudos for not privatizing the Elliott as elk hunters would have ultimately encountered “no trespassing” signs instead of open access into this outstanding backcountry,” said Ed Putnam with Backcountry Hunters and Anglers. “It is important that as the public process moves forward a balanced plan gets enacted that enhances the forest habitat, and keeps it in public hands.”

Earlier this year, the State Land Board voted to dispose of nearly 1,500 acres of the Elliott State Forest and quickly auctioned the acreage off to the timber industry. One timber company has already put up “no trespassing” signs and has vowed to clearcut the forest. The lands were disposed of after conservationists successfully challenged a number of illegal old-growth clearcutting projects on the forest that would have significantly impacted the marbled murrelet, an imperiled sea bird that nests in coastal old-growth forests.

“The table is set to find a lasting solution for the Elliott State Forests that protects its outstanding water quality, salmon and wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities,” said Josh Laughlin, Campaign Director with Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands. “We will continue to work diligently with stakeholders until a plan is in place that safeguards this outstanding rainforest while at the same time meets its Common School Fund obligation.”

The Elliott State Forest provides critical habitat for a host of fish and wildlife species teetering on the brink of extinction, including Oregon Coast coho salmon. Recent data provided by state biologists demonstrate that streams originating on the Elliott State Forest play a significant role in coho salmon recovery on the Oregon Coast.

“The cool, clear streams that course through the Elliott provide essential habitat for coho salmon productivity and must be protected to ensure this iconic fish’s recovery,” said Tom Wolf, Executive Director of the Oregon Council of Trout Unlimited. “A new plan for the Elliott rainforest must entail adequate steam side buffers to protect this outstanding clean water value.”

In addition to the public comments submitted into the record, the State Land Board in October held a “listening session” in Coos Bay to hear from community members about the Elliott State Forest. More than 3:1 spoke in favor of a conservation solution for the forest.

“Oregonians should not have to choose between protecting salmon, clean water, and old-growth on the one hand, and logging to fund education on the other,” said Rhett Lawrence, Conservation Director with the Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club. “Continuing to tie education funding to timber receipts is a failed policy of the past and we need new solutions.”

90% of the Elliott State Forest is Common School Fund land, which has a duty to generate revenue to the $1.2 billion fund. Those encouraging the decoupling of old-growth clearcutting from school funding include hunters, anglers, scientists, teachers, recreation enthusiasts and others who have long advocated that leaders in Salem enact a more modernized approach to school funding.

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Carpools from Portland, Eugene and west of Roseburg are being planned. For more information and to RSVP for the Portland carpool, email Micah Meskel. The Eugene carpool will leave at 12:30 pm from behind FedEx Office on 13th and Willamette St.. Email Josh Laughlin for more information and to RSVP. The carpool from west of Roseburg will leave at 1 pm. Email Francis Eatherington for meeting location and to RSVP.

Preparing your testimony: Please consider preparing three-minute (maximum) testimony on behalf of yourself or the organization you represent. You should also plan to leave a hard copy of your testimony with Land Board staff after you testify. If you can’t make it to the meeting on October 8, consider submitting your comments to the Land Board by email.

       Decouple old-growth clearcutting from school funding on the Elliott

       Protect the Elliott’s remianing native forests, wild salmon and imperiled wildlife

       Safeguard the Elliott for its hunitng, fishing and recreational opportunities and potential

       Promote timber jobs on the forest by restoratively thinning the dense second-growth tree farms and enhancing fish and wildlife habitat

       Oppose the privatization of the Elliott State Forest

It is encouraged that you personalize your testimony and remind the State Land Board why the Elliott is so important to you or your organization. Thanks for speaking up for this outstanding public resource!

State of Oregon Suspends 10 State Forest Timber Sales in Marbled Murrelet Habitat
Simultaneously, Conservation Groups File Injunction Request to Safeguard the Threatened Seabird During Lawsuit

PORTLAND, Ore. — The State of Oregon has suspended operations on 10 timber sales in marbled murrelet habitat one month after Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Audubon Society of Portland filed a lawsuit alleging the state’s logging practices in the Tillamook, Clatsop, and Elliott State Forests are illegally “taking” the imperiled seabird in violation of the Endangered Species Act.  To prevent additional murrelet habitat from being lost while the case works its way through the court system, the conservation groups filed an injunction request in federal court to halt sales and logging in the occupied murrelet habitat pending the outcome of the lawsuit.

The State agreed to suspend three timber sales and to hold off on auctioning three others to give the Court time to consider the preliminary injunction motion. Plaintiffs have also recognized the State has taken things a step further by removing at least four additional timber sales in murrelet habitat from the auction block that were scheduled to be sold in the near future.

“We are pleased that the state has suspended clearcutting in murrelet habitat on its own accord while this portion of the case proceeds,” said Francis Eatherington, conservation director with Cascadia Wildlands. “We hope that Governor Kitzhaber will permanently abandon these illegal timber sales, prevent any others like them in the future, and begin acting within the law in managing our state forests.”

The Endangered Species Act prohibits actions that “take” threatened species. Take is broadly defined to include actions that kill, harm or injure protected species, including destruction of habitat. The injunction request presents evidence that logging in the three state forests is harming marbled murrelets by destroying their nesting habitat. The logging operations were either already underway or ready for auction.

“Oregon’s irresponsible logging is driving the marbled murrelet to extinction,” said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director for the Center for Biological Diversity.  “We’re asking the court to stop the worst of the state’s timber sales, and encouraging Governor Kitzhaber to initiate the development of scientifically-supported management plans for our coastal state forests.”

The injunction motion requests a halt to 11 timber sales, constituting 840 acres of proposed logging in the three forests as well as a halt to any future logging in occupied murrelet habitat pending the outcome of the case. The injunction is necessary because significant amounts of murrelet habitat could be lost while the case works its way through the court system.

“The suspension of the timber sales is an important interim measure while the litigation proceeds,” said Bob Sallinger, conservation director for the Audubon Society of Portland. “However it is important for the public to realize that these and other sales in murrelet habitat are still at real risk of proceeding in the near future.”

The most recent status review of marbled murrelets by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found the birds have been declining at a rate of approximately 4 percent per year and that this decline likely relates to continued loss of habitat, primarily on state and private lands.

Oregon recently abandoned its decade-long attempt to develop habitat conservation plans (HCPs) for the three forests that would have given it a federal permit for limited impacts to marbled murrelets in exchange for habitat protection measures designed to enhance the bird’s conservation. Rather than improving habitat protections, the state turned its back on murrelets and other listed species altogether by walking away from the HCP process. The lawsuit seeks to force the state to develop a plan that will protect murrelets and the mature forests on which the birds and other species depend.

The conservation organizations are represented by outside counsel Daniel Kruse of Eugene, Tanya Sanerib and Chris Winter of the Crag Law Center, Nick Cady of Cascadia Wildlands, Scott Jerger of Field Jerger LLP, and Susan Jane Brown of the Western Environmental Law Center.

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A copy of the preliminary injunction memo and motion can be found here, and more case background can be found here.