Gilchrist Tract Image by dsdportland via Flickr

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).

If landowners are interested in participating in the agreement, they first must contact the ODF to develop a stewardship agreement, according to Janet Lebson at the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Then the departments jointly develop a management plan for the property incorporating “mutually agreed” upon conservation measures like extended timber harvest crop rotation, among other things.

Landowners who participate in the program can apply for financial incentives in the form of property easements. The incentives, currently amounting to $4 million, come from the Healthy Forest Reserve Program run by the NRCS.

Miel Corbett of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department said the agreement is unique in that it is the only one of its size (encompassing 50,000 acres), the only such program in Oregon, and the only agreement with a state agency rather than a business.

“This represents a unique partnership and a new tool for private landowners to take advantage of,” said Corbett.

Corbett said the department knew people are interested in northern spotted owl conservation but that they simply do not have the individual resources to dedicate to conservation.

“So now that we’ve done this programmatic approach, where we can handle multiple landowners in a streamlined process, we’ve heard that there are a lot more landowners who are coming forward and expressing an interest now that we’ve made it easier and more cost-effective for them,” she said.

Some, however, expressed concerns about the program.

“It’s a shame that we are continually in a quandary of whose science is best, which does not allow us to look at long-term approaches to creating sustainable forest industries and sustainable forests,” said Karla Kay Edwards, Rural Policy Analyst at the Cascade Policy Institute, parent organization of The Oregon Politico.

The “quandary” Edwards referred to was the debate over whether the cause of a decline in the spotted owl population was loss of habitat or competition from the barred owl.

However, Corbett said she did not see a downside for landowners in this situation and called the program a “win-win.”

“In this case they are able to contribute to spotted owl recovery and sound forest management while retaining flexibility of their private property,” she stated.

PORTLAND- Nearly three weeks after the release of the last Chris Dudley advertisement attacking John Kitzhaber’s record as governor, the Kitzhaber campaign released their own ad on Thursday bringing into question Dudley’s experience for the job.

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Shortly following the release of this advertisement, the Dudley campaign sent out this web video response.

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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.

“Bill’s proven skill at bringing diverse interests together around a common cause, his passion for wild salmon and other wildlife, his love of rivers, and his extensive knowledge of climate and energy issues will make him an excellent representative for the Council,” said Kulongoski in Wednesday’s press release.

Since serving as Secretary of State, Bradbury has become known for his work with salmon restoration with For the Sake of The Salmon and his work with climate change, serving with The Climate Project.

Bradbury’s appointment to the Council will need to be confirmed by the State Senate before becoming effective on October 1.

The Council was created by federal legislation in 1980 and is tasked with developing and maintaining regional electric power and fish and wildlife protection plans.

Bradbury will follow in the footsteps of Melinda Eden, who has served on the council since 2003.

“Melinda has brought a depth of knowledge and experience to the Council, serving not only Oregon with distinction but representing the interest of the entire Pacific Northwest,” stated Kulongoski.

PORTLAND- A room full of impassioned arguments and frustrated people was the scene at Tuesday night’s townhall at the St. John’s Community Center.

Focusing on the foreclosure crisis, the townhall was hosted by State Representative Tina Kotek, D-North Portland, and included a guest appearance by Congressman Earl Blumenauer, D-Portland.

Blumenauer explained what Congress has been trying to do to decrease the number of foreclosures and expressed his understanding of the situation. Due to a family emergency, he had to leave the event immediately following his remarks.

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Kotek brought in a number of community organizations to provide assistance to people in the audience. Among those groups were the Hacienda Community Development Corporation, the African American Alliance for Home Ownership, Portland Community Reinvestment Initiatives, and Legal Aid, as well as representatives from state agencies dealing with foreclosures.

Following some brief statements from the participating organizations, they took questions from the audience. Many of the questions expressed frustrations with the process and with being in foreclosure when they “did everything right.”

One gentleman in the crowd quoted his wife who said, “Rape would have been easier,” and then added that was a horrible statement for a woman to have to make.

Mike Kaplan, Administrator at Oregon’s Housing and Community Services Department, told the audience, “We don’t have a solution. This program is growing and escalating, so we’re trying something new.”

The new program to which Kaplan referred was the federal Hardest Hit fund, designed to help people get out of foreclosure. These funds will be distributed to each state later this year and then parceled out among all areas of the state.

At the end of the evening, Kotek thanked the crowd, telling them she needed to hear these stories and problems so she could work with other state legislators and with the congressional delegation to come up with some answers.

“This is a new day and age and there is no simple solution,” she said.

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.

After presentations from the Department of Energy, the Climate Trust of Oregon, and the Energy Trust of Oregon, the committee decided to hold off on a decision and to continue discussions until another meeting to be held later this fall.

Allowing other gases, such as methane and nitrous oxide, to be included in the standard would allow state-funded groups like the Climate Trust, the Energy Trust, and the Department of Energy to support projects involving these gases, rather than only projects reducing carbon dioxide.

Committee members discussed concerns about unforeseen consequences when one member of the public brought up regulations already coming from other agencies regarding greenhouse gas emissions.

Shanna Brownstein of the Climate Trust, who requested that this change be considered, told the committee that the Climate Trust does its best to take into consideration future regulations and legislation.

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 that 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.”

The pilot project passed both the State House and the State Senate with bipartisan support, receiving only 22 “no” votes, all Republican, in the whole body.

“The voters of Oregon don’t need any self-appointed ‘neutral’ referees to interpret ballot measures for them.  Only elitists think that way,” said Rep. Matt Wingard, R-Wilsonville, in an e-mail to The Oregon Politico.

This legislation allowed the Healthy Democracy Oregon (HDO) organization to create panels of “randomly selected” voters to debate and to decide on two positions on ballot initiatives.

The panelists hear testimony from and are allowed to question witnesses on both sides of an issue. Then they debate the issue among themselves and come to their own conclusions.

HDO seeks “trustworthy, concise, and easily accessible” written statements from panelists, one statement opposing the initiative and one supporting it, which  are printed in the Voter’s Pamphlet.

Doug Harcleroad, a Senior Policy Advisor for the Oregon Anti-Crime Alliance and a private practice attorney, voiced his concerns with the review process, which he said is “totally flawed.”

Harcleroad’s main concern is the organizers’ inability to screen potential panelists for bias.

“It’s important to have a fair and impartial group of twenty-four people,” said Harcleroad. “But they don’t have that, and they will never have that unless they screen for bias about the measures they’re having these people work on.”

Elliot Shuford, Legislative Coordinator for Healthy Democracy Oregon, said Harcleroad’s comparison of the process to a jury trial is not what HDO is aiming for.

“Our goal is to assemble a fair cross section of Oregon voters with a wide range of views,” said Shuford, adding the process is “totally different” from a trial jury.

Harcleroad was also concerned that witnesses brought in to testify before the panelists have no consequences for lying or misrepresenting the truth.

“The quality of the information can be variable or just plain wrong and you’re stuck with it,” he said. “So there’s no real screen on the information.” He added that the only screen is for who testifies, which is decided by the Citizen Initiatives Review panelists.

Shuford said he sees no problem with witnesses misrepresenting the truth, comparing it to an election process where candidates and political action committees discuss issues during an election.

Calling the accusation of no accountability a “baseless claim,” Shuford said because witness testimony is available online for anyone to see and because witnesses are allowed to refute each other’s statements, there is enough accountability.

Shuford noted that the HDO is done with reviewing for the year, having looked at both Measure 73 and Measure 74 but that they are looking forward to the process in the future if it is deemed a valuable public service.

PORTLAND- This mini documentary is part of a series on gun rights in Oregon. The Oregon Politico interviewed experts on both sides of the issue to get a complete understanding of the story.

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State economists Tom Potiowsky and Josh Harwood presenting the June Revenue forcast

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 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.

In an announcement released shortly after the forecast, Governor Ted Kulongoski said he will use his allotment authority again to make across-the-board cuts totaling eight percent for the next nine months.

To prevent major cuts to schools, the governor and legislative leaders have agreed to put $34 million of the state reserves toward K-12 education when the legislature convenes in February.

“It’s raining. It’s clearly the right time to use the rainy day funds we’ve set aside to protect kids, services for seniors and vulnerable Oregonians to help them through this global recession,” said Speaker Hunt, D-Clackamas County.

Additionally, the Legislative Emergency Board will be working to keep education spending at its current spending levels, maintain “critical” programs for seniors, and prevent prison closures.

The forecast showed that corporate income taxes increased just shy of $20 million, while Lottery earnings and the economic development fund increased around $4.6 million each.

Meanwhile, revenue from personal income taxes was significantly less than expected: $402.3 million less than forecast in June.

Harwood stated that this was due to the “broad economic recession that has affected all levels of income.”

Despite the projected revenue shortfall, corporations still will receive their kicker checks, which state economists said was because the kicker is based more on national, versus state, levels.

When asked whether passing the tax measures 66 and 67 would have increased this shortfall, Harwood said that this was unlikely because the baseline budget for legislators would have been smaller, meaning the body would not have been permitted to spend as much.

“Things can change,” said Potiowsky, concluding that there are still three additional revenue forecasts before the biennium ends next summer.

Republican lawmakers took this opportunity to call again for a special session to address the budget shortfall.

“It is long past time for legislative leadership to step up and do the work Oregonians expect,” said Sen. Bruce Starr, R-Hillsboro.

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.

Gary Lettman, Forest Economist for the Department said that the likely reason for this decline is the drop in demand for housing.

“Housing is down and most of Oregon’s timber harvest goes into housing markets,” said Lettman, adding that nonresidential construction and remodeling are also down, which does not help.

While Lettman stated that timber harvesting has increased on public lands, he pointed out that the increase wasn’t very much, going from 117 million board feet harvested in 2007 to 147 million board feet in 2009.

Lettman said that timber from public lands like the Bureau of Land Management is often sold on contract before being harvested. However, holding off on harvesting until the market improves is frequently a better choice for industrial loggers.

The most surprising thing about the current timber situation, Lettman said, was the continued delay in economic recovery, which is affecting home sales and timber harvests.

He cited the National Forecasting Service, saying that the beginning of an economic recovery is expected in 2011, but that income and demographics will likely not be back to normal until 2014.

“Some of the rural areas are really being affected in eastern Oregon,” said Lettman.

“I feel really bad for the families and communities that are affected by this downturn in the more rural areas [that lack] a lot of alternative opportunities.”