A Resolution Calling on the Trump Administration to Take Immediate Action on Forest Management Issues
By The Oregon Logging Conference – Adopted February 23, 2017
WHEREAS, newly elected President Donald Trump and his Administration have inherited an unprecedented number of forest resource management issues critical to the future of Oregon’s forest products industry and for the health of our federal forests, and
WHEREAS, how these issues are addressed and resolved will have a profound impact on restoring jobs in Oregon’s rural communities, providing essential government services and maintaining Oregon’s status as the top softwood lumber producing state in the country, and
WHEREAS, The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has proposed a new management plan for the western Oregon O&C Lands that would preclude sustainable timber production activities on 80 percent of the land under its jurisdiction in clear violation of the O&C Act of 1936, and
WHEREAS, catastrophic wildfires have increased in frequency over the past two decades, burning millions of acres of forest land, draining government agencies’ budgets and forcing them to “borrow” funds from accounts intended to prevent wildfires for fire suppression purposes resulting in lost opportunities to restore the health of federal forests, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Forest Service has proposed regulations for preparing new management plans for the nation’s forests that are in clear violation of the National Forest Management Act of 1976 and depart from the traditional sustained yield/multiple use mandate Congress intended for the long-term management of the forests, and
WHEREAS, the impact of regulations promulgated under well-intended laws such as the Endangered Species Act, the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act have hamstrung land management agencies by requiring onerous procedural and administrative requirements never intended by the plain language of these laws, and
WHEREAS, negotiations are on-going to settle a longstanding dispute over subsidized softwood lumber imports from Canada that has crippled U.S. producers’ ability to remain competitive and resulted in tremendous loss of market share.
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Oregon Logging Conference (OLC) go on record in urging President Trump to work collaboratively with Congress and the agencies under his Administration’s jurisdiction to take immediate corrective action on these issues critical to Oregon’s forest products industry, the economic viability of rural communities and the health of our federal forests.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that these efforts include as a minimum, the withdrawal of the BLM’s plan for the O&C Lands and direction to draft a replacement that complies with the law; a legislative solution to funding fire suppression that prevents agencies from taking money from accounts intended for forest management; withdrawal of the Forest Service’s draft forest planning rule and a rewrite that complies with the National Forest Management Act of 1976; a comprehensive review of regulations promulgated under environmental laws to determine consistency with legislative intent; and leadership in bringing the negotiations over softwood lumber trade to a fair conclusion.