<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 12 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p
{mso-style-priority:99;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";}
span.EmailStyle18
{mso-style-type:personal-reply;
font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";
color:#1F497D;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1212574856;
mso-list-type:hybrid;
mso-list-template-ids:-2077489342 -1538780928 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693 67698689 67698691 67698693;}
@list l0:level1
{mso-level-start-at:0;
mso-level-number-format:bullet;
mso-level-text:;
mso-level-tab-stop:none;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;
font-family:Symbol;
mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri;
mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman";}
@list l0:level2
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level3
{mso-level-tab-stop:1.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level4
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level5
{mso-level-tab-stop:2.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level6
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level7
{mso-level-tab-stop:3.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level8
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.0in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
@list l0:level9
{mso-level-tab-stop:4.5in;
mso-level-number-position:left;
text-indent:-.25in;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Private Forests News members:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Here is Wednesday’s message from State Forester Doug Decker to Oregon Department of Forestry staff.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Kevin Weeks, ODF Agency Affairs Office<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:12.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>*******************************************************<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:10.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Hello. Time for a brief update on news and activities from the last couple of weeks . . . <br><br><strong><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Our big week at the Legislature</span></strong><br><br>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.<span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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: <br><br><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Forests are integral to Oregon’s character, economy, history and wellbeing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Public investment is this resource is critical.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo2'><![if !supportLists]><span style='font-family:Symbol'><span style='mso-list:Ignore'>·<span style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'> </span></span></span><![endif]><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>There’s strong support among stakeholders for an ongoing public-private partnership in carrying out our work.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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. <span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>Adjusting to a changing budget</span></b><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>As we await the Legislature’s decisions on the 2011-2013 budget, we continue to work through challenges in the current budget period. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>We’ll produce a plan to manage these factors, with the greatest possible predictability and the least possible disruption for the employees affected. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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.<br><br><b>In closing: the long view</b><span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:0in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><br>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. <span style='color:#1F497D'><o:p></o:p></span></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>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<a name="_GoBack"></a>. 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.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>All the best,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Doug Decker<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>