Sen. Brock Smith: The State of our Forests

Oregon Forest Industries Council 2023 Annual Meeting 
By Oregon State Senator David Brock Smith,

Monday, I had the honor to be invited as the Senate Republican to speak to our Oregon forest landowners at their Oregon Forest Industries Council Annual Meeting in Sun River. Our timber resources are a critical industry and a tremendous economic driver for our communities and their residents. OFIC is an industry leader in Science, Sustainability, Innovation and Stewardship and I appreciate their support and advocacy for our forest landowners and the industry statewide.

Many of you have followed my years of work in these areas for our residents and our recent legislative successes for increased harvest on our federally managed forest lands in Oregon to assist in wildfire prevention and bolster our economies, as well as increasing the tax credits for our Small Forestland Owners. There is still much work to be done, as you see below. The drive on Hwy 138 through the Archie Creek burn scar was most troubling. Over 125 thousand acres of public and private land burned in that fire alone. We must continue to press our federal delegation on the need for active forest management of the forest lands under their jurisdiction. The lack of management and harvest on federally managed lands must change to stop the threats to our communities. We will continue to work with our forest landowners and partners to move their industry forward, as they are critical to our communities, their residents and the businesses that support them.

I want to thank OFIC and their members for the privilege to join them at their annual meeting. I look forward to our continued work together and appreciate all they do for our residents.