For the past months, I’ve been re-visiting Oregon’s forestland taxation. How did corporate forest owners politically engineer their way out of paying taxes? How bad is the tax avoidance? How exactly do forestland and timber harvest taxes work? After studying multiple state reports that explain Oregon’s property taxes in general and forests taxes in particular, … Read More
Coast Range Association News
Federal Forest: The BLM Lawsuit
In October the magistrate judge in Eugene ruled against all three of our claims against the BLM forest plan. Our attorneys at Earthjustice and Western Environmental Law Center will appeal. The case now goes before a full federal judge. The ruling came just before the midterm elections, and I believe the judge was being overly … Read More
The Mid-Term Elections
The flip of the House of Representative to the opposition party will hopefully provide a brake on Trump’s most egregious policies. The election signaled voter disapproval of the Republican’s wholesale support for the Trump regime and the party’s know-nothing approach to reality. But the federal political situation is a bigger story than I can visit … Read More
The 4th Climate Report & Forests
When powerful economic interests are threatened, scientists take an exceedingly cautious approach to their work. This is seen in research on toxics where big chemical companies bully and intimidate scientists. And we see it in climate science where an army of bullies and deniers await each science report. One outcome of hostile politics is that … Read More
Wall Street Forests & Tax Avoidance The Climate Crisis & Trump It’s been a tough year: A year end summary
By Chuck Willer On paper, 2018 has been a tough year for many of us working to create a better future. Daily the Trump White House doubles down on policies I thought I’d never see in my lifetime. An alarming Fourth National Climate Assessment was just released and the President shrugs. This in the face … Read More