Governor, Forestry Department Must Tackle Toxic Culture and Neglected Conservation Priorities
| Contact: Steve Pedery, Oregon Wild |
Yesterday, State Forester Cal Mukumoto stunned the Oregon Board of Forestry by announcing his resignation. Acting Deputy State Forester Kate Skinner will assume the role of Acting State Forester while the Board begins the search for a permanent director at the Oregon Department of Forestry. Oregon Wild Conservation Director Steve Pedery issued the following statement:
Oregon’s Governor and Board of Forestry must now find a new State Forester—someone ready to confront the toxic “good ol’ boy” culture of the agency, and the reality that it is captive to the logging interests it is supposed to regulate. These problems have existed within the agency for decades, and long pre-date Mukumoto.
In addition to the egregious behavior by agency leaders that came to light in recent months, this entrenched culture is also raising concerns that the Department of Forestry is slow-walking the implementation of the Private Forest Accords (PFA)—a historic agreement between conservation and timber interests to modernize Oregon’s logging rules. This has been compounded by Governor Kotek’s failure to include funding for PFA implementation in her most recent state budget proposal. The lack of funding and slow pace of PFA implementation could put this historic compromise at risk of being rejected by federal agencies.
It’s time for both the Governor and Board of Forestry to reform this broken state agency.
They must work to rebuild the Department of Forestry as a professional, science-driven agency dedicated to protecting Oregon’s forests, wildlife habitat, and clean water. They must ensure that this agency is independent of the logging interests it regulates, that it prioritizes the protection of our state’s environment, and that its leadership and workplace culture reflect the values of Oregon.
This toxic culture of the Oregon Department of Forestry took decades to create, and past Governors and legislative leaders failed to address it. Governor Kotek has an opportunity to work with the Board of Forestry and ensure that Oregon’s next State Forester has a mandate to reform this broken agency, implement the historic Private Forest Accords, and to serve the people of Oregon. Oregon Wild and our thousands of members will be watching and together we stand ready to hold the State of Oregon accountable.
