Conservation and fishing groups will continue to work with private forest landowners on voluntary compliance with revised spray and logging buffers if legislation is not achieved by 2021. OSPC is confident that this agreement has brought Oregon closer than it has ever been to long overdue changes to Oregon’s water protection policies on private forestlands. These groups sent the following letter to the Governor on March 25, 2020:
March 25, 2020
Dear Governor Brown,
With solace during this troubled time, we write to you regarding the Memorandum of Understanding on forest management that your team facilitated.
We appreciate the recent effort your staff made to keep the momentum behind this historic agreement following the short session.
As key members of the negotiation that produced the MOU, we have consulted with our stakeholders and heard a clear commitment to the MOU’s goals for new pesticide rules, spray notification, and for broader mediation to address forest practice reforms.
But the urgency of the coronavirus pandemic has understandably overtaken our collective ability to carry this work forward in the immediate term.
The MOU envisions coordinated actions by signatories, the Governor’s office, the Board
of Forestry, and – importantly – the Legislature. We remain very committed to meeting the terms of the MOU, including legislation, at the nearest possible time that circumstances related to the coronavirus pandemic allow.
Given our mutual commitment to the key elements of the MOU, and also recognizing the priorities of Oregon at this time, we will make efforts to assist the respective petitioners with the formal withdrawal of the competing ballot measures.
We wish you good health and good luck in the days ahead.