Local Jobs

Whether people like or dislike President Trump and his new cabinet, current efforts to make significant changes in the policies and regulations restricting management of our public lands can provide great economic opportunities for Lane County and its residents.

The 1.5 million acres of USDA Forest Service and USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM) O&C Lands in east Lane County used to provide thousands of good paying jobs for rural families and businesses; the new administration says it wants to restore those opportunities. 

The following timeline and historical background briefly describes the legal and historical precedence for these efforts, and lists specific actions that new and established businesses can consider:  

1897 Organic Act. In 1897 Congress passed the "Organic Act" to manage and protect the recently created US Forest Reserves. The bill was signed into law by President William McKinley and has never been repealed. The guiding principal of the Act remains fairly well-known to this time, and has been the stated theoretical basis to all subsequent US Forest Service (USFS) planning:

"No public forest reservation shall be established, except to improve and protect the forest within the reservation, or for the purpose of securing favorable conditions of water flows, and to furnish a continuous supply of timber for the use and necessities of citizens of the United States."

A lesser-recognized portion of the Act also states it was "for the purpose of preserving the living and growing timber and promoting the younger growth on forest reservations" -- and, in that regard, authority was given to "designate and appraise so much of the dead, matured, or large growth of trees found upon such forest reservations" for sale at "not less" than the appraised value, under the sole condition it couldn't be "exported" to another State or Territory.

1905 US Forest Service. On February 1, 1905 President Theodore Roosevelt created the USFS by transferring 56 million acres in 60 Forest Reserves from the US Department of the Interior (USDI) to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). His good friend and collaborator, Gifford Pinchot, was put in charge of the new agency as its first "Chief." On the same day, James Wilson, Secretary of Agriculture, sent Pinchot a letter outlining the basic principles and public-service policy the new "Forest Service" was to follow. Key excerpts included:

"In the administration of the Forest Reserves, it must be clearly borne in mind that all land is to be devoted to the most productive use for the permanent good of the whole people and not for the temporary benefit of individuals or companies . . . You will see to it that the water, wood, and forage of the Reserves are conserved and wisely used under business-like regulations enforced with promptness, effectiveness and common sense."

And, ". . . Where conflicting interest must be reconciled, the question will always [original emphasis] be decided from the standpoint of the greatest good for the greatest number in the long run." 

These are the foundational documents to the USDA Forest Service and remain the laws and principles that are supposed to guide the management of our National Forests to this day. 

1937 O&C Act. The 1937 USDI BLM O&C Act dictated that the reclaimed "timberlands are to be managed for permanent forest production, and the timber is to be sold, cut, and removed in conformity with the principle of sustained yield." Further, in addition to creating a permanent supply of timber, the Act dictated that watersheds be protected, stream flows be regulated, recreational facilities created and maintained, that sales contribute to "the economic stability of local communities and industries," and that the 18 O&C counties (including Lane) would share directly in timber sale revenues.

1969 NEPA/ELI - 2001 Roadless Rule. In December 1969, Congress -- which included about 60% lawyers at that time -- created the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), while a few miles away and within 48 hours, 50 lawyers and academics incorporated the Environmental Law Institute (ELI). This coalition then greatly increased the regulatory structure of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 1973 and created the Equal Access to Justice Act (EAJA) in 1980. The intention was to aid poor individuals, military veterans, and small businesses, but the result was wealthy nonprofits -- such as the Sierra Club, Oregon Wild, and the Center for Biological Diversity -- suing the federal government for infractions of NEPA and ESA and being directly paid by unwitting US taxpayers. 

The 1984 "Chevron doctrine" further allowed agency lawyers and scientists to define "ambiguous statutes" without legal challenge. EAJA lawyers were able to capitalize on numerous such regulations built into NEPA and ESA at great cost to US taxpayers and rural families and businesses. 

These Acts and related taxpayer-funded litigation led to widespread unemployment in rural counties and communities with federal timber. They were also directly responsible for the 24.5 million acre 1994 Northwest Forest Plan and the 2001 "Roadless Rule" that removed 58 million acres of National Forests from road construction and harvesting. 

The results of these decisions led directly to widespread economic damage and physical destruction of hundreds of rural communities and industries, destruction of millions of acres of public forestlands, greatly limited recreational opportunities for US citizens, caused the horrific deaths of tens of millions of native animals, and deadly wildfire smoke inundated major towns and cities for weeks at a time. 

These "unanticipated consequences" were clearly predicted in the early 1990s by me and other experts in the fields of forest management and wildfire suppression, but our concerns and warnings were mostly ignored until now. Sixty years of restrictive environmental laws and litigation cannot be reversed in a few months or even several years, but recent efforts and rulings by the new administration and the Supreme Court are strongly pointed in that direction:  

2025 Increased timber harvest. On March 1, President Trump issued Executive Order (EO) 14225 "Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production," requiring an immediate 25% increase in government timber sales. In July he ordered National Forest Supervisors to develop 5-year plans for achieving that objective and gave them 90 days to do it. Tariffs on Canadian lumber imports currently being negotiated add to the urgency of this ordered transition.

There is an obvious solution to meeting this Executive Order in Lane County, and hundreds of direct logging, road maintenance, truck driving, mechanics, manufacturing, and reforestation jobs would result; but also local home construction, sales, and rentals, restaurants, bars, gas stations, teachers, health care workers, and others would also be needed. 

All industrial plantations on federal lands should be systematically harvested as intended — to create jobs and commercial products -- and then either replanted for the same purpose or restored to native wildlife habitat conditions that existed prior to industrial management in the 1950s or grazing and plowing in the early 1800s. USDA and USDI surviving old-growth trees should be thinned of competitive second-growth, ladder fuels, and ground fuels to greatly reduce wildfire mortality in remaining stands.

2025 Active forest management. On May 30, USDA launched the "National Active Forest Management Strategy" that calls for 10-year contracts on federal lands. These are the types of contracts that created Westfir in 1920 and widespread industrial investment and development after WW II. This Strategy also addresses both the 1897 Organic Act and EO 14225 by directing the Forest Service to "expand timber production, streamline regulations and modernize forest management to support our national well-being." The Strategy also outlines goals and priority actions the agency should implement over the next three years to meet those needs.

2025 Rescission of the Roadless Rule. On June 23, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins rescinded this 2001 Rule and removed prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System, in order to allow for fire prevention, responsible timber production, and recreational access.

It is my position that all roads and trails — current and historic — should be clearly mapped and made available to local residents and businesses. Warning signs and/or temporary blockades should be used instead of gates on all public lands, which many feel should be freely open to everyone.

2025 Chevron Doctrine overturned. On June 28, the US Supreme Court overturned the 1984 "Chevron doctrine" that had allowed federal agencies final authority to interpret "ambiguous federal laws." This decision removed the ability of agency legal teams to essentially write rules and regulations with impunity, directly resulting in greatly increased costs and failures in the management of our public resources. 

In a 6-3 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that the judiciary -- not agency employees -- had the sole prerogative to "say what the law is." More fundamentally, "Chevron's presumption is misguided because agencies have no special competence in resolving statutory ambiguities. Courts do."  

2025 Local business manufacturing. On July 29, Senate Bill (S.) 1555, the "Made in American Manufacturing Act of 2025" passed out of Committee and was "Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders." The principal focus of this bill is to increase Small Business Administration loans from $3.5 million to $10 million to encourage development of rural US manufacturing businesses. 

This could be a huge opportunity for east Lane communities to develop a wide range of forest product and management businesses. A cogeneration facility in Westfir, for example, could produce electricity for the local community and provide a stable basis for testing electrical forest management machinery and transport. Such a facility could also provide a commercial value to bug-infested or charred wildfire remnants for years or decades after losing value for structural products.   

2025 Recreational opportunities. The 1937 O&C Act for USDI timberlands and the 1960 Multiple Use & Sustained Yield Act for USDA National Forests both stressed the need to develop recreational facilities and opportunities for US residents. In recent years many such developments, including campgrounds, trails, and scenic road vistas have been destroyed by wildfires, made inaccessible through systematic road "decommissionings" and locked gates, and/or have fallen into disrepair or been vandalized due to decreased maintenance and personnel budgets. 

A return to active management of our forest resources, as outlined by existing law and promoted by the current administration, could provide the funding needed -- again -- to restore and enhance recreational facilities and opportunities for all Lane County residents and visitors.  

[For more detailed descriptions of these histories and opportunities, including links to government documents and to relevant books, articles, reports, interviews, and videos by Dr. Zybach, please go to: www.NWMapsCo.com/ZybachforLane/Platform/Jobs.html