A Resolution Opposing the Expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument
By the Oregon Logging Conference
February 22, 2018
WHEREAS, in the year 2000 President Bill Clinton utilized his authority under the Antiquities Act of 1906 to create the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, encompassing approximately 65,000 acres in an area where the Cascade, Klamath and Siskiyou Mountains converge in southern Oregon, and
WHEREAS, just prior to leaving office in January 2017, President Barak Obama relied on the same authority to add another 48,000 acres to the monument bringing the total acreage to 113,000 acres of reserves by Executive Order, and
WHEREAS, the Obama expansion included significant amounts of federal forest land legislatively designated for timber production purposes by the O&C Act of 1937 and will affect the management of private lands which are largely intermingled with the federal forests, reciprocal rights-of-way agreements to access non-federal lands, and make the management of those lands more difficult and expensive, and
WHEREAS, Congress designated these lands for timber production purposes and only Congress can remove that designation. The Antiquities Act of 1907 cannot override an action that Congress has already taken relative to the purpose of the O&C forest lands, and
WHEREAS, these forest lands are located in an arid part of the state and are susceptible to climate change, catastrophic wildfire, disease, insect infestation and drought without active management to keep them healthy, and
WHEREAS, a broad group of local interests have expressed grave concerns about the monument expansion including the forest products industry, local county commissions, the Association of O&C Counties, business organizations and state legislators citing the impacts to private property, the loss of timber production to support jobs and the generation of timber revenues to the counties necessary to sustain public services, and
WHEREAS, after thorough review, current Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke has recommended that the Trump Administration reverse the expansion of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument authorized by the Obama Administration and to restore its boundaries to those established by President Bill Clinton.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Oregon Logging Conference go on record in support of Secretary Zinke’s recommendation to President Trump to rescind the 48,000 acre monument expansion authorized in the waning days of the Obama Administration and to ensure that the federal government follows the law by managing the O&C Forest Lands for sustainable timber production as prescribed by Congress.