SALEM- A new joint agreement to save the northern spotted owl population was announced on Friday, amid some frustrations.

The Safe Harbor Agreement is a voluntary program designed to provide incentives for landowners and promote conservation efforts, as agreed upon by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

SALEM- Following his unsuccessful bid to be the next governor of Oregon, former Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury has been appointed by Governor Ted Kulongoski to a regional energy and conservation council.

The position is one of eight seats on the Pacific Northwest Electric Power and Conservation Planning Council, with two representatives from Washington, Montana, Idaho, and Oregon.

SALEM- A Tuesday morning meeting at the Oregon State Library postponed to a future date a decision on expanding which gases can be included in the Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard.

This meeting, the first to be held by the newly formed Energy Facility Siting Council’s Advisory Committee on Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Offsets, convened to address adding greenhouse gases other than carbon dioxide to the Oregon Carbon Dioxide Standard.

SALEM- Some in the state’s political sphere are concerned by the inability of citizen review organizers to limit review bias.

The Citizen Initiative Review pilot project came about as a result of a piece of 2009 legislation which gave the Secretary of State the ability to “designate organizations to establish citizen panels to review and create statements on a specified number of initiated state measures.”

SALEM- As anticipated earlier this month, State Economist Tom Potiowsky released his most recent revenue forecast today showing the state to have $1.269 billion less than what was expected at the end of the Legislative session in 2009.

Because of the allotment reductions made by the governor following the last revenue forecast, the total $1.269 billion shortfall translates into just a $377.5 million gap needing to be filled, said Senior Economist Josh Harwood.

SALEM- Timber harvests on private lands have hit their lowest harvest since the Great Depression while harvests on public lands are on the rise, according to a recent report issued by the Department of Forestry.

The report found that timber harvests in 2009 declined twenty percent from the already depressed 2008 harvest. In 2009, 2.748 billion board feet were harvested, which is the lowest harvest since 2.622 billion board feet were harvested during the Great Depression.

SALEM- Attorney General John Kroger announced the appointments of two new staff members on Tuesday.

The two attorneys appointed were Paul Garrahan, hired as Special Counsel on environmental and natural resources, and Jennifer Gardiner, who will serve as a narcotics prosecutor.

Garrahan, a graduate of the Virginia School of Law, was hired following the resignation of Brent Foster.

MEDFORD- The list of political action committees hoping to influence Oregon politics can add two new tax-focused groups to its ranks.

The new political action committees, although officially unrelated, were both created to promote lower taxes and fees.

PORTLAND- During a Friday conference call held by Republican Congressional hopefuls Scott Bruun of West Linn and Rob Cornilles of Tualatin to address rural Oregon, the two candidates discussed the fact that rural Oregon’s high unemployment rate exceeds that of most suburban and urban counties.

“There’s no question there’s an economic opportunity divide between, if you will, the west side and some of the rural parts of the east side,” said Bruun. “Bad macroeconomic conditions and policies affect every area, but if you’re already in an area that’s slightly oppressed, it’s even worse.”

KEIZER- Speaking to the importance of America’s rural economy, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an appearance Friday morning with Congressman Kurt Schrader, D-Canby, at Keizer’s Civic Center.

Sec. Vilsack came to Oregon as part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Tours program, speaking to groups across the country about issues faced by rural Americans.