The Oregon legislature has directed and authorized the Oregon Board of Forestry to manage state forestlands under its control “so as to secure the greatest permanent value of those lands to the state.”
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Converting State Trust Lands into Public Lands, Part 2: Focus on Oregon
The federal government, through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, should buy a significant portion of state trust lands that have high conservation value. The Oregon Legislative Assembly should use the state’s bonding authority to issue bonds to buy the state trust lands out of their bondage in the Common School Fund.
Read MoreThe Elliott State Forest Will Not Be Privatized—But Will It Be Saved?
The existential crisis for public lands conservationists has passed, but the Elliott State Forest is not yet fully in the hands of conservation. It all depends on where the lands end up and the purposes for which they are bought out of the Common School Fund. Perhaps in a later blog post I will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each of the three approaches and offer up what I think is the best solution.
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