[ODF_Private_Forests] Message from the State Forester

[WEEKS Kevin]

Private Forests News members:
Here is Wednesday’s message from State Forester Doug Decker to Oregon Department of Forestry staff.
Kevin Weeks, ODF Agency Affairs Office
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Hello.  Time for a brief update on news and activities from the last couple of weeks . . .

Our big week at the Legislature

Over the course of three afternoons last week, we presented the Governor’s Balanced Budget for the Department to the Ways and Means Committee’s Natural Resources Subcommittee.

This was an important opportunity to tell a story about the value that Oregonians derive from the dollars they entrust to us. The story line went something like this:


·         Forests are integral to Oregon’s character, economy, history and wellbeing.

·         Public investment is this resource is critical.

·         Recent budget reductions – although we understand that they’re part of a larger economic context – have had an impact on our ability to keep forests healthy and working.

·         There’s strong support among stakeholders for an ongoing public-private partnership in carrying out our work.

Along the way, we highlighted fire prevention and the importance of keeping fires small; our responsibilities in protecting and enhancing natural resources on private lands; our commitment to balance in the management of state-owned forests; and the value of our assistance in urban and community forestry. We touched on the complexities and challenges in each area. And we laid out our accomplishments.

I was pleased to give the floor at one point to Shannon Loffelmacher, who described the many hats she wears every day as a stewardship forester in the North Cascade District. Many thanks to Shannon for hanging up those hats for an afternoon to sketch out the real-life business of educating landowners, enforcing forest laws, and serving on an incident management team when the call goes out. Her presentation was effective and prompted a good conversation with the committee.

The fourth day was reserved for public comment. It was gratifying to see the room filled with diverse stakeholders – owners of forestlands large and small, members of conservation groups, and a representative from the League of Women Voters of Oregon – sharing their thoughts about the importance of public investment in forestry.

Board of Forestry Chair John Blackwell addressed the subcommittee briefly. His comments provided a fitting capstone, and I’ll come back to them in a moment.

In the end, I felt that our messages were well received. Without question, legislators face extremely difficult choices in allocating limited dollars among all of the services that state government provides. We made a strong case for investing some of those dollars in the work that you all do.

Adjusting to a changing budget

As we await the Legislature’s decisions on the 2011-2013 budget, we continue to work through challenges in the current budget period.


During reductions in the past two years or so, we’ve been able to use one-time federal stimulus funds to replace state dollars in some employees’ positions. This aligns with one of our guiding principles in budget planning: recognizing the significant value of our employees, and making every effort to minimize impacts on staff as budget conditions change.


With the stimulus funds comes a measure of uncertainty. The grants run out at various times – some as soon as this June 30, some extending into 2013. In some cases, we’ve seen these grants renewed past their expected ending dates.


At the executive team level, we’ve formed a group to take a careful look at the federal funding picture, at currently vacant positions, and at the potential for a small number of new positions that we may receive in 2011-2013.


We’ll produce a plan to manage these factors, with the greatest possible predictability and the least possible disruption for the employees affected.

We’re committed to keeping you all updated, and to making sure that individual employees facing transition have information about their options in the weeks to come.

In closing: the long view

As I mentioned earlier, Board Chair John Blackwell offered comments following our budget presentation. He described his own experience, working for the Department as a young forester fresh out of college, then returning many years later to lead the Board. He noted that then, as now, we are mission-driven, skilled in our work, and committed to service.

It’s our centennial year, a fitting time to reflect on the sense of continuity that John evoked, even as our responsibilities and challenges have changed. We had a great centennial party on the Salem campus in April. As the year goes on, I hope you all have a chance to celebrate this milestone in our history. I appreciate the role each of you plays as that history unfolds.


All the best,

Doug Decker

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