John Seward from Oregon Department of Forestry and the Oregon State Police met Barbara Shamet, her family and supporters this morning at a roadblock barring her vehicular access to her own property. Shamet and her family live adjacent to an ODF sanctioned clear cut of a portion of the Elliott State Forest referred to as the Millicoma Between sale and a “2010 Millicoma Between pre-op report says, under section IX Slope Stability, that this unit is a “High Landslide Hazard”, right above private land.” The Millicoma Between sale appears to have been an addendum to the South Marlow Switch Sale and also does not appear to have been properly advertised by ODF.
Timber sale revenues from the Elliott State Forest are placed into the Common Schools Fund. What is also unclear is whether or not the Millicoma Between sale was sold for half its worth as appears to be the case with other sales.
From Comments on 2008 DEIS-HCP for the Elliott State Forest –
2. In October 2007 the South Marlow Switch timber sale was advertised for $850,439.00. In July 2008, the very same 2.4 mmbf on 81 acres, was re-advertised for $484,802, almost half as much. Luckily it sold for more, but it was still a 25% loss from the 2007 value.
3. In August and October 2007 Pildup Marlo was advertised for $632,741. In April of 2008 it was re-advertised for $303,634, a 50% loss of value in 6 months! It sold for almost exactly the appraised value (appraised value of DF was $179.85 and it sold for $180.70) . This was another huge loss of to the common school fund.
The Elkhorn Ranch Timber sale, the site of another recent protest also sold for half its value and may be indicative of price fixing that further devalues the worth of the public resource.
I’m aware of nowhere in open timber markets where a concentrated stand of high quality, mature DF timber could be purchased for less than $425 as “stumpage”. This lack of real competition and price fixing also devalues future state forest sales which are appraised, in part, based on previous sales.
According to Shamet, Seward was at first dismissive but grudgingly allowed her to read her letter imploring the purchaser of the sale and the ODF to halt logging operations until the matter could be properly discussed in a public forum. Logging operations did cease for the day but with a promise that they would begin again tomorrow morning.
The question becomes who is ODF really working for? Clearly they are not working to obtain the maximum amount of revenue for the Common Schools Fund and they seem to have no conscience about creating a high landslide hazard by clear cutting a rainforest with high carbon sequestration value that will endanger adjacent homeowners. Who is really minding our state forests?
What is happening, I believe, is the private timber companies are selling and exporting all their raw logs and chips overseas. This leaves no logs for local mills to process. It has been well known for many years that the large corporate timber giants run the State when it comes to Southern Oregon. They tend to run everyone and everything including our elected officials and state agency personnel.
If you think this is being done for the good of the people or the Common School Fund think again. This is all about industry profits and “their” bottom line.
Our current system is based on continual growth and profits, not on sustainable forest practices. We sold our souls long ago I’m afraid to these large corporate interest. We think we can keep over-cutting our way out of all our funding problems, but eventually that system will catch up with itself if it hasn’t already.
I recommend reading; “Plundertown, USA: Coos Bay Enters the Global Economy” by Al Sandine.
This is criminal. The family and the citizens should bring a class action lawsuit against ODF
It would be nice to think that the state representatives would try to do the right thing here but so far as I can tell they are run by the timber companies too.
Why haven’t these people contacted State Legislators as well as Governor Kitzhaber? I don’t agree that “any work” , even at half the value, not profit for the purchaser since they will cut in response to “the market”. That is the only WISE use of the people’s resources. What kind of “fix” is this? It has the smack of corruption on somebodie’s part. Don’t our elected representatives give a damn? One wonders with the “sell off” of the wagon roads by the Coos County Commissioners to the Coquille Tribe. Who believes that the Forestry Department at the Coquille Tribe can compete with the great Coos County Forestry Department who’s been judiciously making the best use of County Forests for many years prior to the reforming of that tribe in fairly recent history.