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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
class=416265823-10022010><STRONG>Oregon Department of
Forestry</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
class=416265823-10022010><STRONG>NEWS RELEASE</STRONG></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
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<H1 style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=Arial><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 3">
</SPAN></SPAN><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-WEIGHT: normal">Major Media
Distribution<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H1>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Feb. 10,
2010<SPAN
style="mso-tab-count: 6">
</SPAN>Doug Decker, (503) 701-0236</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
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align=center><B style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: Arial"><FONT size=3>Forestry board approves acquiring new
state forestland in Central Oregon<o:p></o:p></FONT></SPAN></B></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The
Oregon Board of Forestry Wednesday approved the purchase of 43,000 acres of
forestland in <st1:place w:st="on">Central Oregon</st1:place> as a first step in
a long-range effort to acquire nearly 100,000 acres of nearby land.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>This
purchase will create the first new state forest is about 70 years.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>State
officials had initially hoped to buy an additional 25,000 acres immediately to
the east, but public financing is not currently available. The department is
working with a non-profit conservation group – The Conservation Fund – which is
purchasing those lands until future state purchases are possible.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>“This is
truly a historic moment,” board chair John Blackwell said. “We’ve assured that
this land remains in forest use, providing a whole range of benefits for future
generations. That’s especially important these days, when we’re facing permanent
loss of forestland to development and other uses.”</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The tract
is 50 miles south of <st1:City w:st="on">Bend</st1:City> in northern <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, east of Highway 97 near the
community of Gilchrist.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The
purchase is financed with $15 million in bonds approved by the 2009 legislature
with support from Gov. Ted Kulongoski. The bonds will be repaid over 20 years
with proceeds from the Oregon Lottery.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face=Arial>“Oregonians value their forests, and it’s heartening when we have an
opportunity to keep a piece of forest land in forest use,” Kulongoski
said.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The state
is purchasing the property from Fidelity National Timber Resources, Inc., which
has owned it since 2006.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>“This is
a good outcome for all parties involved,” said Nancy Craven of
Fidelity.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The
property is part of larger holdings owned by the Gilchrist Timber Company for
most of the 20<SUP>th</SUP> century. The community of Gilchrist was a “company
town,” the site of the company mill and home to many of its workers.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The
Gilchrist family sold the property and mill in 1991 to Crown Pacific, which
liquidated the forest to pay debt and eventually entered bankruptcy in
2003.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The land,
which once supported expanses of large Ponderosa pine trees, was heavily
harvested in the early 1990s, following the Gilchrist Timber Company
sale.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The land
was replanted as required by <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>’s Forest Practices Act, and is now
stocked with trees about 20 years old.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>It will
be several decades before the forest will be able to provide timber sale revenue
to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> to support local
services.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>In the
meantime, the state Department of Forestry will manage it to restore the densely
packed young stands and to create a forest that eventually provides many
benefits, including diverse wildlife habitat, ongoing flows of clean water, and
recreation opportunities, in addition to forest products and
revenues.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3
face=Arial>Eventually, revenue also may come from “carbon credits,” paid to
forest owners for their value in absorbing gasses associated with global
warming.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>“Without
this action today, this land may have faced a dramatically different future,”
State Forester Marvin Brown said.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Years
away from providing revenue from timber harvest, the land was not a likely
purchase prospect for forestland investors. It most likely would have been
divided into many smaller parcels, with a scattering of homes and other
development. This would have increased fire danger while severely limiting
larger scale management for wildlife habitat, public recreation opportunities
and other benefits.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>In
addition to the Gilchrist lands, the Department of Forestry manages 781,000
acres of forestland, about 3 percent of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place>’s forests. This includes the
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Tillamook</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Forest</st1:PlaceType>,
restored under state ownership after severe fires in the mid-20<SUP>th</SUP>
century, and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Elliott</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Forest</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. The Elliott is
owned by the State Land Board – the governor, state treasurer and secretary of
state – and managed by ODF under contract.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>The
newest state forest, the <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sun</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Pass</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Forest</st1:PlaceType>
just south of <st1:place w:st="on">Crater Lake</st1:place>, was acquired between
1943 and 1948.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Brown
said the Gilchrist acquisition reflects the work and support of many people and
groups, including the legislature, the governor, Fidelity and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Klamath</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> commissioners.</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal
align=center><FONT size=3 face=Arial># # # #</FONT></P>
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face=Arial> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><FONT size=3 face=Arial>Maps and
other information about the acquisition are available on-line at:</FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt" class=MsoNormal><A
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/STATE_FORESTS/gilchristacquisition.shtml"><FONT
color=#800080 size=3
face=Arial>http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/STATE_FORESTS/gilchristacquisition.shtml</FONT></A></P>
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