Hearing Scheduled on Bill That
Would Ban Forest Practices on Over a
Million Acres in Oregon
On Tuesday, March 12 at 1:00 PM, the
House Committee on Energy &
Environment will hold a public hearing
on
HB 2656. HB 2656 is probably the
most threatening bill to Oregon’s
managed forests by banning harvest, road
building, and the use of pesticides and
fertilizers in forestland that supplies
drinking water for public sources.
Thus, locking up over a million of acres
( map).
Hearing Details
Date: Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Time: 1:00 pm
Location: Oregon State
Capitol, Hearing Room D
Legislators need to hear
from you!
HB 2656 decimates the ability of
private landowners to actively
manage Oregon’s working forests. Private
forests are currently managed under a
suite of state and federal regulations
protective of water quality. Maintaining
the productive use of private forests is
critical to the economic and social
stability of many Oregon counties and
communities.
- HB 2656 supplants the Oregon
Forest Practices Act, making Oregon
more restrictive than
California. California is
experiencing the worst fire
conditions in state history and is
currently looking for ways to
increase harvest levels to decrease
fire risk and protect communities.
Would also prohibit building of
forest roads needed to combat fires.
- HB 2656 shuts down working
private forests, which sustainably
produces 78 percent of Oregon’s
timber harvest, supports over 100
manufacturers and employs more than
60,000 Oregonians in rural counties
and communities across the state.
- HB 2656 forces private
management practices to mimic those
on federal forests, where
overstocked, diseased and
inaccessible landscapes have
generated 80 percent of acres lost
to fire over the past decade. Carbon
emissions from wildfire smoke emit
millions of metric tons of air
pollution, are costly to rural
economies, and negatively impact
Oregonians’ health.
- HB 2656 removes Oregon from its
position as the number one softwood
lumber and plywood producer in the
country, shuttering the United
States’ primary source of renewable,
carbon friendly building
products, to be replaced by other
producers of alternative products in
other states and countries.
- HB 2656 provides almost
unchecked opportunity for
non-native, invasive weeds such
as Scotch broom, Himalayan
blackberry and Japanese knotweed to
flourish, choking young trees,
forest roads and riparian areas,
impacting fire protection and
wildlife habitat.
- HB 2656 increases the cost of
managing forest
landscapes, encouraging forestland
conversion to other land uses.
Please consider attending the
hearing and/or sending a message to the
Committee.
Click the link below to log in and send
your message:
https://www.votervoice.net/BroadcastLinks/X1y4cQa-n29V2WANfohOrQ
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