As of Tuesday, April 12, the Elliott State Forest will be officially managed by Oregon State University for research purposes. The decision was made after Senate Bill 1546 was signed into law by Oregon Governor Kate Brown, who was accompanied by Secretary of State Shemia Fagan and Treasurer Tobias Read.
The bill converts the land into a publicly owned research forest; $120 million will go towards funding for OSU’s studies of the forest – with common goals being to help inform decisions such as creating opportunities for local economies, supporting forest health and water quality, and strengthening the environment against climate change. The signing is said to have been made possible by the efforts of the Elliott State Research Forest Advisory Committee, whose plans for the change began back in 2019.
In a video of the signing, Brown said, “This bill is the product of a lot of hard work, frank conversations, and collaboration to find common ground that serves the collective good. It was literally years in the making.”.
Treasurer Read added that conversation surrounding this topic has gone on “for decades” and the result resolves serious issues while allowing public ownership for the forest.
Secretary Fagan extended a special thank you to the Tribal partnership’s contribution to the bill’s achievement.
Prior to Tuesday’s bill, the southern Oregon forest was used to fund schools bi-annually through timber via the Common School Fund.
By: Rebekah Harcrow
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