Local News

Officials Meet Over Timber Payments

Mike McLane of Powell Butte is on a bi-partisan task force assigned with the difficult goal of finding ways for timber dependant communities to survive. After most logging was banned on federal forests for environmental reasons; for about 10 years the government has been routing money to the most timber dependent communities. But now those payments are expiring and even if they are extended, Representative Mike McLane says a long term solution is desperately needed. “The federal government also needs to acknowledge that when it owns 53%t of a state, like it does in Oregon or 78% of a county like it does in Lake County, that to simply cut off the economic benefits of that land and to make Lake County meet its needs on 22% of the land, it’s ludicrous to say that we can be competitive with say, Multnomah County." The task force met with government leaders in Deschutes, Jefferson and Crook County on Friday. McLane says one idea he has is to increase tax incentives for businesses to locate in enterprise zones. The task force will present its plan during the next session.

 

 

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