Oregon's Empty Green Rep and Greedy Timber Company Sprawlers

Steve Duin makes a great point in his Oregonian column today, one that's surely occurred to many of us at various moments, throwing out recyclable water bottles every day, the open sewer that is the Willamette River, or especially the dark specter of timber companies seeking to destroy both our irreplaceable old growth forests and, via Measure 37 subdivisions, even what little additional non-sprawled open space is left.

"Green? Us? Please," Duin writes. "Smug? Definitely. But as Oregon's reputation as an environmental pacesetter? Way overrated." (I'd link to Duin's column but can't find it on the Oregonian's terrible website. Maybe one of you readers could forage for it on my behalf.)

Duin talks about how student volunteers from the Northwest Environmental Defense Center actually collect more fines from polluters than Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality. How air quality is all but not enforced. Senate candidate Steve Novick (who I personally plan to vote for in the primary -- not to tell the rest of you how to vote), discusses how DEQ enforcement is taken "much less seriously" than at the Washington Department of Ecology.

But nothing, I mean nothing, compares with the continuing potential land-use holocaust that is Measure 37. Take a look at this report from 1,000 Friends of Oregon:

Look at this map of Washington county, where Stimson Lumber has filed $269 million worth of Measure 37 claims and is chomping at the bit to subdivide massive tracts in the foothills of the Coast Range, in the western reaches of Washington County, which you can see on this map.  Their claims even extend over the range, into Tillamook County.

But the Washington County numbers are truly staggering.  Stimson seeks to develop 36,086 acres (7.6% of Washington County) of pristine forest, and would see a spectacular payday if Measure 37 stays on the books, many times their $30,000 contribution to the Measure 37 campaign in 2004. 

Measure 49, the proposed fix to Measure 37 going on the November ballot, would appropriately limit this proposed development, and will ensure that the little guy gets priority over greedy deep-pocketed timber companies like Stimson.

And by the way, I'd like to ask the leadership of Stimson: Just how do you sleep at night? Is it Tylenol PM, Xanax, alcohol, Valium, Ambien? Because there's no way you could lie down at night and not be kept awake by the thought of the way you're raping the landscape.

On a more positive note, though, on September 8 from 10AM to 4PM at the Oregon Convention Center, there will be a town hall meeting hosted by Congressman Earl Blumenauer and others designed to discuss options and trump up support for Measure 49. Hey, I'd wear one of Blumenauer's ridiculous bow ties for a year straight if I thought it'd help pass this measure.

Comments

[torridjoe]

it's all relative. Doing nothing is a vast improvement on other states, where they're actually HOSTILE to "going green."

There's always room to improve, but the fact that we recognize it and at least seek to address it, puts us far ahead of the rest of the country in my expereince.

[Dave]

Found the Duin article on Oregonlive:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/1187904311290160.xml&coll=7

[ws]

It's a tough issue. M49 is going to appease property owners that felt inconvenienced by not being able to expand family residency on their property, but it's not doing anything to address impact felt by property owners that banked on commercial development of their property. Those people are going to continue to complain, complain, complain.

All of this completely emphasizes the increased importance of comprehensive land use concept planning rather than stop-gap measures of the past. I guess, as I understand it, I'm thinking that SB100, the Tom McCall thing was just such a stop-gap measure. Good for its' day, but the dynamics and pressure of development seem to far exceed what that bit of legislative work can cover today.

Without related help and guidance, people can and have been amazingly willing to subordinate integrity of the natural environment they live in to unrestrained development.

[goose]

i have high hopes for measure 49, but its still just a bandaid. it would be better, though not necessarily feasible to repeal m37 and start from scratch. ~i still don't understand how m37's applicability to only people who have owned their property since enactment of urban growth boundaries gets around the equal protection clause of the constitution. anyway about the woods....

most timber companies have a real estate division so if they are not looking to sell the woodlands for timber, they intend to sell them for residential development. in fact, real estate development is much more profitable than timber harvesting. wouldn't you love to have a house in the woods? i know i would. if you consider how long it takes to grow good wood, it just doesn't make sense for a timber company to invest in lands dedicated for growing timber. the point is to harvest what is already there and move on.

despite duin's article, for as progressive as oregon is, its primary historical industry still relies on a tradition of unsustainable practices. all it takes is a ride on timberline's magic mile lift on a clear day to get a "clear-cut" vision of how timber companies have been raping OUR national forest for profit. in return we get a spotty landscape. if the woods were selectively harvested, timber would be a much more precious commodity then it currently is and people would pay more for quality wood. those of us who can't afford it would have to turn to other products, perhaps recycled materials. perhaps all of those flattened cars in the junkyard could be turned into metal alloy studs for single-family home building. or maybe i'm ignorant - who knows?

this is a particularly sensitive issue for me because i lived in government camp for seven years. now, what used to be a quaint little village of winter alcoholics and summer skateboarders is turning into the next vail. perhaps the people of portand want this sort of thing so that they can stay over night and not risk their lives on hwy 26 after a long day of skiing. however, i worry about the manner in which this explosion in development is taking place. from what i hear, the new "lakeside" condos were built without an environmental impact statement, even though some of the lake containing native trout was filled in. architecturally, they fit in nicely with the govy vernacular, but from what i hear from the old locals, the real estate investments have more or less benefitted timberline and ski-bowl, with little advancement for the people who actually live there year-round. god bless the huckleberry inn and their milkshakes.

[kathleen mazzocco]

We're having a house party for Novick on September 30 if you want to join us! Let me know.

[ilie mitaru]

If anyone is looking for credible information on Measure 37 claims around the state, including who filed claims, for how much, and where (with maps), check out my site:

www.measure37watch.com