December 17, 2020 3:25 a.m.

Douglas County Commissioner Tim Freeman has been re-elected to his fifth term as President of the Association of O&C Counties.

A release from the County Commissioners said the group unanimously re-elected its leaders for next year, at the AOCC annual virtual meeting held on Friday December 11th. In addition to Commissioner Freeman, Polk County Commissioner Craig Pope was re-elected as Secretary-Treasurer and Coos County Commissioner Bob Main was re-elected as Vice President.

Freeman said he was honored with his re-election and appreciates the continued support of the group’s members, “…who trust me in leading this critically important work”. He said the organization will continue to work hard to secure solutions “…to manage our unique congressional designated lands”.

The release said AOCC represents the O&C lands in 18 western Oregon counties. The counties host 2.1 million acres of O&C timberlands managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The release said AOCC advocates for sustained yield management of O&C lands, as required by federal law under the O&C Act, to protect and support jobs and local economies, county services, and healthy timber land.