Western Oregon BLM Federal Public Forestlands:

Governor Kitzhaber's O&C Principles

Though the attention for the present is on Governor John Kitzhaber's attempt to resolve the O&C lands management crisis by convening a group of stakeholders from the O&C counties, timber industry and conservation community (I am of the view that the Governor's choices to represent the conservation community are not representative of the conservation community as a whole).

Here are the Governor's O&C Principles:

• Stable County Funding - Recognize O&C Act’s unique community stability mandate and provide adequate and stable county revenues sufficient to meet needs for basic public services.
• Stable Timber Supply – Provide adequate and stable timber supply that will provide for employment opportunities, forest products and renewable energy.
• Protect Unique Places – Permanently protect ecologically unique places.
• Durable & Adaptive Conservation Standards – Maintain Northwest Forest Plan forest management standards – Late Successional/Old Growth Reserves & Aquatic Conservation Strategy – in an adaptive manner where and when required to comply with environmental laws.
• Conservation Opportunities – Promote conservation advances on private “checkerboard” lands through voluntary, non-regulatory incentives – financial, technical, regulatory relief, etc.
• Federal Budget Neutral – Recognize that O&C solution will need to be budget neutral or positive at the Federal level.
• Achieve Certainty – Develop a policy framework that will provide for certainty in achieving all of these principles.

Given that controversy involves federal public forestlands, it will be the forthcoming effort led by Senator Ron Wyden that will be controlling on the issue. Here are Senator's superior set of principles for O&C lands.