The Association of O&C Counties (AOCC) today applauded bipartisan passage of the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2017 (H.R. 2639) in the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation gives the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) new policy and legal tools to increase the pace and scale of active forest management on federal lands.
“Passage of the Resilient Federal Forests Act is an important first step toward improving the system of federal forest management,” said AOCC President and Douglas County Commissioner Tim Freeman. “The Association of O&C Counties was honored to have the opportunity to testify on this legislation. We are grateful the House has taken action to help protect our communities from catastrophic wildfire, protect and create more family wage jobs for our citizens, and generate revenues to support essential public services.”
Freeman said the Resilient Federal Forests Act will improve the management of both BLM O&C timberlands and Forest Service lands in Western Oregon, which serves as an important source of revenues to county governments and economic activity in rural communities.
“We especially thank Congressman Greg Walden and his staff for their hard work on this legislation, and for their support of O&C Counties,” Freeman said. “We urge the U.S. Senate to pass the Resilient Federal Forests Act and send the legislation to the President’s desk as soon as possible”