County opposes habitat conservation plan
Oct. 13—The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners voted 4 to 1 on Wednesday for a proclamation opposing a habitat conservation plan that would limit logging in state forests.
The plan, prepared by the state Department of Forestry, would protect species under the federal Endangered Species Act by creating protected habitat areas across nearly 640,000 acres of state forests.
Most of the forestland lies in Clatsop and Tillamook counties, causing local leaders to fear the impact of a significant reduction in timber revenue.
Clatsop County relies on timber revenue. County leaders say a projected 30% to 38% reduction because of the plan could result in an annual loss of $7.3 million to $9.1 million for the county and local taxing districts.
County commissioners, District Attorney Ron Brown and Sheriff Matt Phillips signed a joint letter in May that was added to the public comment for the habitat conservation plan, calling on the state to come to the table before moving forward.
As the state nears finalizing the plan, the county commission has doubled down on its message.
"Hopefully this assists the Board of Forestry in their upcoming decision making and gives us a chance as a community and as a county to say, 'We can do better,'" said Commissioner Courtney Bangs, who has played a lead role in advocating against the draft plan.
"And this HCP is devastating. None of us here are against the premise of an HCP and the purpose. We are against how this one is written."
Commissioner Pamela Wev, who signed the letter in May, voted against signing the proclamation, calling it an inappropriate use of the board's proclamation power.
"I agree with almost every word of it, but I think that it's our responsibility not just to shout this from the mountaintop, but to work very closely with state government to remedy these issues that have arisen in the HCP," Wev said.
Commissioner Lianne Thompson disagreed, arguing that a proclamation was appropriate.
"We are by law the agents of the state, not just some random stakeholder," she said. "And as I said, my mom was a redhead, so with all respect to redheads — we are nobody's redheaded stepchild here.
"We are accountable as a general purpose organization, we are not a special interest. We should be working tongue and groove with the state. We should be collaborated with."
