72nd OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2003 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
LC 2723
 
                         Senate Bill 699
 
Sponsored by Senator GEORGE (at the request of Don Fell)
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure as
introduced.
 
  Directs State Forestry Department to develop plan to harvest
Tillamook State Forest on 40-year schedule. Specifies required
elements of plan. Directs department to submit plan to interim
committee for review and comment. Directs State Board of Forestry
to adopt plan by rule.
  Requires person challenging plan to post bond. Limits persons
who may challenge plan to persons residing and domiciled in
certain counties. Requires challenge to occur within 30 days
after final adoption of plan by board.
  Declares emergency, effective on passage.
 
                        A BILL FOR AN ACT
Relating to Tillamook State Forest; and declaring an emergency.
  Whereas the Tillamook State Forest burned in a series of
catastrophic fires in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s; and
  Whereas the Tillamook State Forest reforestation after the
fires was financed in part by a statewide bond issue; and
  Whereas the reforestation was accomplished largely through the
planting of a single species, Douglas fir; and
  Whereas the monocrop planting of Douglas fir has resulted in
widespread disease, including Swiss needle cast; and
  Whereas the diseased and dying trees provide an environment
where catastrophic fires can occur again; and
  Whereas harvest of diseased and dying trees and replanting of
various species of trees can reduce the fire danger; now,
therefore,
Be It Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon:
  SECTION 1.  { + (1) Notwithstanding the requirement in ORS
530.050 that the Tillamook State Forest be managed by the State
Forester to secure the greatest permanent value of the lands to
the state and the procedures for sales of forest products by the
State Forester provided in ORS 530.059, the State Forestry
Department shall create a plan to fully harvest the Tillamook
State Forest on a 40-year schedule. The plan created by the
department shall include the following elements:
  (a) A division of the harvest of the forest into a straight
line estimate such that the same harvest of timber occurs each
year of the 40-year schedule.
  (b) A division of harvestable parcels into small, medium and
large sizes to ensure that logging entities having different
resources are able to bid on leasing the parcels.
  (c) Bidding procedures with no minimum bid amount.
  (d) The issuance of a lease to the successful bidder for a
duration sufficient to complete the harvest.
  (e) Separate bidding for salvage of cedar trees.
  (f) A beginning of the harvest no later than December 31, 2004.
  (2) The department shall present the plan for review and
comment to the joint interim committee of the Seventy-second
Legislative Assembly with responsibility for natural resources.
  (3) After review and comment by the interim committee, the
State Board of Forestry shall adopt the plan by rule. + }
  SECTION 2.  { + A person who desires to challenge the plan or
elements of the plan developed by the State Forestry Department
under section 1 of this 2003 Act must:
  (1) File a bond, in an amount determined by the court,
sufficient to pay the cost incurred by the state for litigation
in defending the plan. The bond shall be forfeited if the person
challenging the plan does not receive a decision from the court
that the plan:
  (a) Violates constitutional provisions;
  (b) Exceeds the statutory authority of the department; or
  (c) Was adopted by the State Board of Forestry without
compliance with applicable rulemaking provisions.
  (2) Reside and be domiciled in a county in which the Tillamook
State Forest is located.
  (3) Submit any challenge to the plan within 30 days after the
final adoption of the plan by the State Board of Forestry. + }
  SECTION 3.  { + The State Forestry Department shall submit the
plan specified in section 1 of this 2003 Act to the appropriate
interim committee no later than November 30, 2003. + }
  SECTION 4.  { + This 2003 Act being necessary for the immediate
preservation of the public peace, health and safety, an emergency
is declared to exist, and this 2003 Act takes effect on its
passage. + }
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