Springfield Chamber Submits Testimony to Oregon Department of Forestry on Western Oregon Habitat Conservation Plan
Esteemed members of the Board of Forestry:
I offer this perspective as a supplement to our testimony submitted May 31st, 2022, asking for a more thorough analysis of impacts the Habitat Conservation Plan proposal will have on rural Oregon, and a process more inclusive of local business, industry, and taxing districts. We ask that you consider the ramifications of regulations posed on one sector impact Oregon businesses, families, and communities.
The Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce serves the Springfield, Eugene and surrounding rural communities in Lane County. We build thriving communities by creating jobs and investing in people and the place we call home; ahome now hosting the first world athletics championships ever held in the US, and a Main Street through which two record-breaking marathons were won. We have worked hard to build a community that can shine on the world stage and represent our state well.
Oregon is a rich tapestry of rural and urban economies interwoven and made better by their symbiotic interdependence. A place where the rich soil grows world-class wine grapes and where recreational enthusiasts enjoy the same natural resources that build our homes, feed our families, and power our dams. Where success is possible for the urbanite with a passion for fishing, the restaurateur who takes pride in locally-sourced menus, and where the forester educated at the world’s top-rated university advises industry on responsible forest management practices so that future generations of Oregonians are ensured both economic opportunity and quality of place.
It has taken our community decades to diversify from a mostly timber-based economy. Local mills still provide for some 1000 jobs in Springfield alone. Economic diversification is healthy, and we know what it takes to work in partnership and in good faith with community and public agencies to make that happen; we’ve done so. We know that when one sector of our economy is impacted, our Main Street businesses are impacted. So too are their employees, our neighborhoods, and our families.
Timber harvest constraints anywhere, impact the timber and wood product economy everywhere. Though Lane County has fewer State forests than other areas, companies in our community will be impacted by forestland harvests elsewhere, and vice versa.
We know that a thriving rural economy is important to the economic strength of our state, and to metro regions like ours. Urban or rural, “Main Street” businesses do not thrive, let alone survive, in an economic silo. They benefit from community investments made possible by industry and thrive in large part due to earnings from good paying jobs, like those provided by the forest sector, and also from transportation, construction, manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain enterprises that tie them.
The ability to build affordable housing, parks, cultural experiences, and to pay for education, health and welfare, critical infrastructure, and public safety; these go away when private enterprises close their doors or move out of state.
When we are prevented from responsibly managing a treasured, natural resource with care and attention reflective of these deeply-rooted values, we say good-bye to our state’s greatest opportunities: To locally source for a critical traded-sector economic base: manufacturing and construction; to leverage carbon-neutral product development in new construction and investment in new renewable energy sources at our manufacturing sites; to demonstrate innovation, sustainability, and competitive advantage; to find solutions in unique partnerships between government and industry that solve for pressing issues of common interest such as to improve habitat and wildfire management, and prevent destruction of our private and publicly-owned forests.
Inflationary pressures and a possible economic recession now loom. The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis recently pointed out that goods-producing industries (such as forest products) are more sensitive to interest rates. As rates increase to battle inflation, we face a slowdown in construction, manufacturing, and natural resources impacting traded sector industries frequently named as state economic development and workforce priorities. Why add an unnecessary burden to these conditions?
We look to you for making wise decisions as you move forward, and to remember that where business goes, so goes our community. And for Oregon and Oregonians, where our forest industry goes, so goes our state economy and our communities.
Sincerely,
Vonnie Mikkelsen, President and CEO
