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New Version Of O & C Timber Legislation Clears Senate Committee Hurdle

Rachael McDonald

Thursday the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed a new version of Oregon Senator Ron Wyden’s bill to boost logging on public forests called O & C lands -- named for the Oregon and California Railroad that once owned them.

Jes Burns of EarthFix explains some of the changes.

The substituted bill would increase harvest levels over previous versions - from about 350 to 400 million board feet per year. It brings Wyden’s bill more in line with bipartisan O & C legislation already passed by the House. New provisions also increase the amount of land governed by the legislation. And they block logging stands of trees over 85 years old. That’s down from 120 years in previous versions.

Wyden is running up against the clock to get the O & C bill passed before the end of the year, while Democrats still control the Senate. Wyden’s office tells EarthFix the goal now is to attach it to other must-pass legislation on the floor.

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