Secretary Zinke Demonstrates Commitment to Working Forests

Last spring, President Trump signed a highly contentious executive order requiring U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke to perform a formal review of certain national monument designations created under the Antiquities Act. Secretary Zinke has finalized his review and released the final report outlining his recommendations to the President, which may benefit forest communities in rural Oregon.

Per a press release by the Department of Interior (DOI), recommendations made by Secretary Zinke in the report include:

• Keep federal lands federal - the report does not recommend that a single acre of federal land be removed from the federal estate. If land no longer falls within a monument boundary it will continue to be federal land and will be managed by whichever agency managed the land before designation.
• Add three new national monuments - Secretary Zinke recommended beginning a process to consider three new national monuments: The Badger II Medicine Area (Montana), Camp Nelson (Kentucky), and the Medgar Evers Home (Mississippi).
• Modify the boundaries and management of four monuments - Bears Ears, Grand Staircase, Cascade-Siskiyou, and Gold Butte National Monuments.
• Expand access for hunting and fishing - Maintain an ongoing review to ensure public access to encourage more hunting and fishing in monuments.

“America has spoken and public land belongs to the people,” said Secretary Zinke. “As I visited the Monuments across this country, I met with Americans on all sides of the issue—from ranchers to conservationists to tribal leaders—and found that we agree on wanting to protect our heritage while still allowing public access to public land. My recommendations to the President reflect that, in some circumstances, proclamations should be amended, boundaries revised, and management plans updated.”

The full press release from DOI also includes a brief section titled “FACT VS FICTION: Antiquities Act and Monument Review.” During a time of highly-fractured and emotionally-charged media reporting on the subject, it is helpful to dispel some of the most pervasive myths that do nothing to foster productive dialogue, or support the monuments or the communities that adjoin them. I encourage you to read this section when you have time.

Reevaluating National Monument Boundaries

Southwest Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou was originally designated as a roughly 60,000-acre national monument by President Clinton in 2000, and President Obama added another 48,000 acres to it in early 2017. The expansion of the monument was immediately challenged as being an illegal maneuver because the new boundaries included private lands that were previously devoted to logging under federal statute via the O&C Act (Oregon and California Railroad Revested Lands Sustained Yield Management Act of 1937). A number of Oregon counties have boundaries that encompass portions of this land, and they receive a share of the logging receipts generated from it. As access to timber in the region continues to dwindle, this income is increasingly important.

Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument (Photo: Bureau of Land Management Oregon and Washington)

The new DOI recommendation does not specify exact acreages or areas to be considered for modification. However, Zinke notes that "The boundary should be revised through the use of appropriate authority, including lawful exercise of your discretion granted by the Act, in order to address impacts on private lands and to address issues concerning the designation and reservation of O&C Lands as part of the monument and the impacts on commercial timber production.” The land would remain in federal ownership and would be managed by the BLM.  

(In a “win” for working forests on the east coast, Secretary Zinke’s recommendation for Maine’s Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument also accounted for the importance of forest management, noting that “The Proclamation should be amended, through the use of appropriate authority, including lawful exercise of your discretion granted by the Act, to ensure compliance with the provisions and intent of the Act while also prioritizing promote a healthy forest through active timber management.”)

Making Good on Oregon Timber Payments

Secretary Zinke also recently announced that the BLM will issue timber-receipt payments totaling $19.5 million to 18 counties in western Oregon, which includes $1.4 million in previously-sequestered funds. These counties receive yearly payments under the O&C Act equal to 50 percent of receipts from timber harvested on public lands in these districts.

"O&C lands were specifically set aside for sustainable timber harvests and they are an important part of the economic foundation of western Oregon," said Secretary Zinke. "Working with the county officials we were able to get these much-needed funds to the local communities, but my next priority is ensuring that these lands continue to provide sustainable timber harvests that support the community and strengthen the health of the forest."

"We are happy to report the 18 O&C Counties will receive these disbursements, including those withheld payments, very soon," said Commissioner Tim Freeman of Douglas County and President of Association of O&C Counties. "Every County will use these much-needed funds for vital services according to their local priorities, from public safety and juvenile programs to elections departments and infrastructure maintenance, and everything in between."

“The announcement that our communities will receive the full timber receipts payments they are owed under the law is great news,” said Congressman Greg Walden (R-OR). “These resources will be critical to funding essential county services from law enforcement and emergency operations to schools and infrastructure projects. I want to especially thank Secretary Zinke and his team for working so closely with the O&C counties to ensure these funds are disbursed, and for their continued commitment to improving forest management and supporting our local communities in southern Oregon.”