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16-02-2003, 02:29 PM

(Daniel B. Wheeler) writes:
Larry Caldwell wrote in message t...
(Daniel B. Wheeler) writes:

But commissioners in rural counties that receive proceeds from state
logging say the proposal betrays the goals of forests replanted by
volunteers after the famed Tillamook fires decades ago. Counties
turned the lands over to the state, with the expectation that
consistent cutting would generate local dollars, they said.

The only reason the counties ended up with the land was that property
owners could not make property tax payments during the great depression,
particularly after the land burned. The land should be sold off in 160
acre homesteads and the sale proceeds distributed to the counties.

That's certainly a possibility that Oregon may be looking at in the
future, Larry. But for that to be a viable option, I think reliable
roads would have to be in existence. And a lot of the coastal range
*roads* are little more than jeep tracks.

That is certainly a consideration. I am sure the circumstances would
vary from parcel to parcel. When they were originally homesteaded there
would have been provisions for roads, though the traditional section line
roads would have been impractical. Building roads would be expensive
too, since good road ballast is sometimes hard to come by in the Coast
Range. There is a lot of shale and sandstone. Basalt is rare in some
areas.

Also, considering the restrictions put on logging in coastal areas
where coho salmon spawn, there are quite a few serious limitations on
what may be done with the property, and when.

The ESA is hardly the most restrictive land use law in Oregon. Remember,
the minimum size parcel you could even build a house on would be 160
acres. I think most of the homesteads in the Coast Range were 160 acres,
so that would work out.

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