Letter to Governor Kate Brown from timber and conservation signatories of February 2020 MOU standing by their landmark deal

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.

Greg Miller
For Forest Industry Signatories
Bob Van Dyk
For Fish and Conservation Signatories
Campbell Global
Greenwood Resources
Hampton Lumber
Hancock NR Group
Lone Rock Resources
Oregon Small Woodlands Assn.
Pope Resources
Port Blakely
Roseburg Forest Products
Seneca Sawmill Co.
Starker Forests
Stimson Lumber
Weyerhaeuser
Audubon Society of Portland
Beyond Toxics
Cascadia Wildlands
Klamath Siskiyou Wildlands Center
Northwest Guides and Anglers Assn.
Oregon League of Conservation Voters
Oregon Stream Protection Coalition
Oregon Wild
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations
Rogue Riverkeeper
Trout Unlimited
Umpqua Watersheds
Wild Salmon Center