ATTORNEY GENERAL CALLS DECISION “A VICTORY FOR OREGON’S ENVIRONMENT”

April 27, 2022 1:50 p.m. 

Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum is calling Wednesday’s decision by the Oregon Court of Appeals to overturn a $1.1 billion verdict in a case involving thirteen counties, taxing districts and the state, “…a victory for Oregon’s environment as well as for sound forest management”.

A release from the Department of Justice Office of the Attorney General, said County of Linn v. State of Oregon dealt with how the state manages timber harvests on state forest land.  The release said in the decision, the court found that Oregon did not violate a state and local agreement over timber harvests when the state balanced the financial benefits of timber production with other benefits like water quality, wildlife habitat and recreation opportunities.

Rosenblum said “The court agreed with the state’s legal position in recognizing that Oregon’s forests serve a full range of environmental, recreational and economic uses that the Department of Forestry has authority to balance in order to secure the greatest value to all Oregonians”.

Governor Kate Brown weighed in on the issue as well. Brown said, “In Oregon, we manage our forests not only for the benefit and prosperity of this generation but those to come”. Brown said the decision was “…a validation of the fact that a balanced, science-based approach to public forest management will produce the greatest long-term outcomes for all Oregonians, including the counties and taxing districts that receive revenue from state forests”. Brown said through working together, she is confident the state and counties can find a sustainable approach to supporting critical services for Oregonians.

The release said state law has long required the Board of Forestry to manage the state forests to “secure the greatest permanent value of those lands to the state”. In 1998, the Board adopted a rule explaining what the “greatest permanent value” of the state forests means, agreeing that the Department of Forestry would balance multiple values and uses of the forests. The release said the rule also said that although environmentally sound timber production was important, it was not exclusive of other uses that provide a full range of social, economic, and environmental benefits to the people of Oregon.

A group of counties originally sued the state in 2016, arguing that the “greatest permanent value” of more than 700,000 acres of state forest land is by maximizing timber production revenue that by state law gets shared with the counties. In 2019, a Linn County jury agreed with the counties and awarded them $1.1 billion, including more than $160 million for attorney fees.