All O&C timber counties are not created the same. Take for instance the difference between Coos and Curry County. The percentages of public and private land ownership and large tract forestland differs greatly between the two. Roughly 59% of Curry County is owned by the federal government whereas only 21% of Coos County is publicly held. There is also a big disparity in the percentage of large tract forestland and while I don’t have Curry’s figures yet, 48% or almost half of Coos County is forestland and consequently brings very little revenue, less than $4 per acre into the taxing districts.
In 2012 Curry’s timber harvest measured 73 million BF compared to Coos’ 215 million BF so reinstating a severance tax will have very different results in Coos than in Curry. This is why the one-size-fits-all approach taken by Salem or Congress for that matter may not produce the desired even results from county to county. This is why it is frustrating to see the commissioners sitting back to wait and see what state and federal legislators decide to do rather than designing and implementing a program that fits Coos County’s unique dynamic.
Again, I think the citizens are going to have to figure this out with or without the commission before it is too late.
Well wassup… I am kicking back on the porch of my double wide lick-in-em! Time to take my medicaid taxi to pick up some smokes & potato juice.
I’m following the suggestion of the World paper to cure what ails us. I’m catching the island breeze while I strum my ukulele.