A Collaborative Way Forward on the Elliott State Forest

We believe that the creation of the Elliott State Research Forest will allow the forest to work for everyone and meet the needs of all Oregonians, now and in the future.

Have you been to the Elliott State Forest lately? Maybe you have been there to hunt, or to hike, or just to drive around and enjoy nature. If you haven’t, you’re missing out on one of Oregon’s treasures. 

For those of us who live in Coos county or Douglas county, Elliott is the 91,000 acre state forest right in our backyard. It provides trees for our mills, a place to hunt and fish, habitat for animals and birds, and a place to recreate with your family. 

Unfortunately, the Elliott has also been ground zero for timber management controversies and school funding questions, as well as debates about habitat, public access, and private ownership restrictions. The State relies on timber sales to pay the costs of managing the Elliott, and the profit from the sales goes to help fund public schools. Simply put, if no timber is being harvested, then the Elliott State Forest actually takes money away from schools.  The last timber sale in the Elliott was in 2012.

The State Land Board recognized this problem and started looking at ways to fix it. The first solution proposed was to sell the Elliott to private ownership. An appraisal was done, and the value was set at $221 million dollars. The sale fell through, but the State contributed $100 million dollars to the common school fund to buy down the cost of the Elliott State Research Forest, which is in front of the Legislature now.

At that point three years ago, we agreed to be part of a process to see if there was a way to bring stakeholders together, to collaborate across ideologies, and find a path forward. 

Since then, along with Oregon State University, the Oregon Department of State Lands, and multiple stakeholders, we have been part of an effort to design a solution to the dilemma of the Elliott State Forest. This solution is not simple: it needed to keep the Elliott in public ownership, protect critical habitat, allow for world-class forestry research, significantly increase the meager harvest that has been coming off the Elliott for decades, allow for continued public access, fund the common school fund, and reduce the litigation that keeps the Elliott tied up in knots. 

After those three years of hard work in a collaborative process by people of different perspectives, we believe that such a solution has been found. By creating the Elliott State Research Forest and independent Elliott State Research Authority to run it, we believe we can put the Elliott back to work for all of us. 

This solution requires action from the Legislature. Senate Bill 1546 creates an Elliott State Research Forest that works for everyone. If you recreate in the Elliott, know that public access will remain. If you see conservation of the Elliott’s natural resources as most important, know that critical habitat will be protected as will species dependent on that habitat. If you believe that a sustainable working forest should be the goal for the Elliott, know that such is part of SB 1546 as well. And if you wish for world-class research in forestry and habitat, we believe the plan before the legislature accomplishes that, in affiliation with Oregon State University’s Forestry Department.

Finally, perhaps the strength of SB 1546 is that the advisory committee includes representatives of timber interests and those of conservation groups; tribes and schools; hunters, anglers, outdoor enthusiasts, and researchers. We all listened to one another, learned to trust one another, found collaborative solutions to tough questions and stayed at the table for three years. The resulting design is not exactly what any one of us would independently create, but it is one that recognizes the concerns we all had, as well as the concerns of the groups we were asked to represent. 

Our goal has been to keep the Elliott working for everyone, for the next 100 years and beyond.

We believe that the creation of the Elliott State Research Forest will do just that and meet the needs of all Oregonians, now and in the future.

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Melissa Cribbins: Coos County Commissioner, Attorney, Mother, Life-long Oregonian

Keith Tymchuk: Teacher for 41 years; 6 terms as Mayor of Reedsport; 27 years as a Port of Umpqua Commissioner; 6 years as a Director with the Central Lincoln PUD. I enjoy reading, chasing steelhead with the fly rod, hunting and golf.

Photo credit: "Amongst the firs of the Elliott State Forest" by #ODF is licensed under