In a unanimous vote, the State Land Board approved a resolution that directs Department of State Lands (DSL) staff to begin implementing a protocol to transfer ownership of the Elliott State Forest out of the Common School Fund. The resolution also directs staff to stop work on finding a new manager for the Elliott and on securing a new habitat conservation plan, two other options that were explored over the past year and a half. “This action today comes after years of hard work and thorough consideration of input from a wide spectrum of interested citizens,” said DSL director Mary Abrams. “We believe the adopted protocol will allow the Land Board to meet their trustee responsibilities to the school children of Oregon through a transfer that balances economic and conservation values,” she said. Approximately 84,000 acres of the 92,000-acre forest are Common School Trust lands overseen by the Land Board to fund K-12 public schools in Oregon. Revenue from timber management of these lands is deposited in the Common School Fund. In recent years, policies adopted to assure compliance with the Endangered Species Act have resulted in the forest producing a net deficit to the fund of about $5 million since 2013. The transfer protocol laid out in the resolution includes the following requirements that any plan for transfer must contain: * Compensating the Common School Fund for the fair market value of the forest; * Ownership of the entire property; * Retaining other values such as recreational access, older forest stands and watersheds for species habitat, and local economic benefits from the forest. The protocol also contains a schedule ending with submittal plans due by late 2016, said Abrams. A kick-off meeting for interested parties has been set for Sept. 17, 10:00 a.m. at the Veteran’s Auditorium in Salem (700 Summer St NE). “We realize the timeline is aggressive, but we are optimistic that interested and qualified parties will come to the table prepared to work together to preserve all the benefits the Elliott State Forest provides for Oregonians,” she said. The State Land Board consists of Governor Kate Brown, Secretary of State Jeanne P. Atkins and State Treasurer Ted Wheeler. The Department of State Lands administers diverse natural and fiscal resources. Many of the resources generate revenue for the Common School Fund, such as state-owned rangelands and timberlands, waterway leases, estates for which no will or heirs exist, and unclaimed property. Twice a year, the agency distributes fund investment earnings to support K-12 public schools. The agency also administers Oregon’s Removal-Fill Law, which requires people removing or filling certain amounts of material in waters of the state.
