To: Christy Splitt, Director of External Affairs and Doug Moore, Executive Director
Tell the OLCV to put its foot down to protect our forests!
Dear OLCV Decision Marker,
I am writing to you as a voter concerned with conservation and with the upcoming election in Oregon. As an agency that prides itself on staying abreast of environmentally important legislative and political events in Oregon, the OLVC has a special charge to be fair and considerate in deciding whom to endorse. I am asking you to withhold the OLCV endorsement from Congressman Peter Defazio, Congressman Kurt Shrader, and Governor John Kitzhaber.
Lately, in Oregon, it has been difficult to tell the Democrats from the Republicans just by their voting records and the types of legislation being introduced. Democratic Congressmen Peter Defazio and Kurt Schrader joined Greg Walden in introduced a Bill in the House that would dedicate more than a million acres of public land in our state to maximum yield timber production . Their bill was combined with a bill fostered by Doc Hastings that created a Timber Tzar who would have the power to declare public land outside of the timber-dedicated zone to be at high risk for a fire and therefore loggable even if it was in a conservation area. Our Democratic Congressmen helped draft the O&C Bill and voted for it sending in on to the Senate. With Democrats like this, who needs Republicans?
Meanwhile, Governor Kitzhaber supported these legislators’ efforts by hosting his own timber harvest panel. As part of the State Land Board, he has even been involved in efforts to liquidate the 90,000 acre Elliot State Forest near Coos Bay. He also agreed to a bill preempting local GMO restrictions in Oregon.
I know it may be hard to withhold an expected endorsement from a candidate who has received it for many years, especially one with whom future cooperation is desired. At the moment, the cost of cooperation is too high for Oregon’s public forests, water, and soils. If you ask yourself whether you would endorse any of these three men were they running on a Republican ticket, the answer is clear. My hope is that loosing the endorsement of OLCV will be a wake-up call to our elected officials who seem to forget in whose interests they were elected to serve.
Sincerely,
I am writing to you as a voter concerned with conservation and with the upcoming election in Oregon. As an agency that prides itself on staying abreast of environmentally important legislative and political events in Oregon, the OLVC has a special charge to be fair and considerate in deciding whom to endorse. I am asking you to withhold the OLCV endorsement from Congressman Peter Defazio, Congressman Kurt Shrader, and Governor John Kitzhaber.
Lately, in Oregon, it has been difficult to tell the Democrats from the Republicans just by their voting records and the types of legislation being introduced. Democratic Congressmen Peter Defazio and Kurt Schrader joined Greg Walden in introduced a Bill in the House that would dedicate more than a million acres of public land in our state to maximum yield timber production . Their bill was combined with a bill fostered by Doc Hastings that created a Timber Tzar who would have the power to declare public land outside of the timber-dedicated zone to be at high risk for a fire and therefore loggable even if it was in a conservation area. Our Democratic Congressmen helped draft the O&C Bill and voted for it sending in on to the Senate. With Democrats like this, who needs Republicans?
Meanwhile, Governor Kitzhaber supported these legislators’ efforts by hosting his own timber harvest panel. As part of the State Land Board, he has even been involved in efforts to liquidate the 90,000 acre Elliot State Forest near Coos Bay. He also agreed to a bill preempting local GMO restrictions in Oregon.
I know it may be hard to withhold an expected endorsement from a candidate who has received it for many years, especially one with whom future cooperation is desired. At the moment, the cost of cooperation is too high for Oregon’s public forests, water, and soils. If you ask yourself whether you would endorse any of these three men were they running on a Republican ticket, the answer is clear. My hope is that loosing the endorsement of OLCV will be a wake-up call to our elected officials who seem to forget in whose interests they were elected to serve.
Sincerely,
Why is this important?
In the next few weeks, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters will be endorsing political candidates running in elections in November. Oregon's elected officials have made drastic attacks on our public forests that will benefit a handful of wealthy corporate timber families while costing the rest of us clean air, fresh water, and the beauty of the Oregon outdoor lifestyle. The OLCV needs encouragement to refrain from co-signing the green wash we are being sold by these politicians.