Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Oregon Forest Water Protection from Logging Initiative (2020)
| Oregon Forest Water Protection from Logging Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 3, 2020 | |
| Topic Water and Environment | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Oregon Forest Water Protection from Logging Initiative (Initiative #47) did not appear on the ballot in Oregon as an initiated state statute on November 3, 2020.
The measure would have regulated logging near forest water by prohibiting logging within 100 feet of fish-bearing streams and wetlands five acres or larger and within 50 feet of wetlands at least one-half of an acre large.[1][2][3]
On February 10, 2020, petitioners announced that they had signed an agreement with petitioners of competing ballot initiatives—Initiative #53, Initiave #54, and Initiative #55—to work together to achieve forest regulation reform via the legislature rather than the initiative process. Twenty-six groups signed the cooperative memorandum. One side of the debate included groups like Oregon Wild, the Audubon Society of Portland, and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. The other side included timber companies, like Stimson Lumber, Roseburg Forest Products, and Weyerhaeuser. The agreement focused on reforming the Oregon Forest Practices Act of 1971 with the aim to enact new legislation by the February 2022 legislative session. The agreement set up an 18-month process to establish a federally approved “habitat conservation plan,” which would take into account the Endangered Species and Clean Water Acts and the interests of the timber industry. Additionally, the two sides agreed to support a bill that would limit aerial pesticide treatments and allow regulations that would restrict logging near streams in southern Oregon’s Siskiyou region. On April 7, 2020, both sides of the agreement formally withdrew their petitions from the Oregon Secretary of State.[4][5]
Text of measure
Ballot title
The draft ballot title for this measure was as follows:[3]
| “ | Expands area around waterbodies where logging operations are limited; no compensation if property values reduced[6] | ” |
Ballot summary
The draft ballot summary for this measure was as follows:[3]
| “ | Oregon Forest Practices Act currently limits logging operations near certain waterbodies. Logging prohibited within 20 feet of waterbodies supporting fish; additional harvest restrictions depend on waterbody, apply out to a maximum of 100 feet.
|
” |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
The state process
In Oregon, the number of signatures required to qualify an initiated state statute for the ballot is equal to 6 percent of the votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. Signatures for Oregon initiatives must be submitted four months prior to the next regular general election. State law also requires paid signature gatherers to submit any signatures they gather every month.
Moreover, Oregon is one of several states that require a certain number of signatures to accompany an initiative petition application. The signatures of at least 1,000 electors are required to trigger a review by state officials, a period of public commentary, and the drafting of a ballot title. Prior to gathering these initial 1,000 signatures, petitioners must submit the text of the measure, a form disclosing their planned use of paid circulators, and a form designating up to three chief petitioners. The 1,000 preliminary signatures count toward the final total required.
The requirements to get an initiated state statute certified for the 2020 ballot:
- Signatures: 112,020 valid signatures were required.
- Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was July 2, 2020.
In Oregon, signatures are verified using a random sample method. If a first round of signatures is submitted at least 165 days before an election and contains raw, unverified signatures at least equal to the minimum requirement, but verification shows that not enough of the submitted signatures are valid, additional signatures can be submitted prior to the final deadline.
Details about this initiative
- The initiative was filed by Kate Crump, Vikram Anantha, and Micha Elizabeth Gross on October 2, 2019, after initiatives #34, #35, and #36, which also concerned protection of forest waters, were rejected on September 24, 2019. It was filed with Initiative #45 and Initiative #46, which also establish regulations to protect forest water.[2]
- Petitioners withdrew the initiative on April 7, 2020.[2]
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Complete Text of Initiative #47," accessed October 3, 2019
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "Oregon Secretary of State Elections Division Initiative, Referendum, and Referral Search for 2020," accessed October 3, 2019
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "Attorney General Letter for Initiative 47," accessed November 12, 2019
- ↑ The Ridgefield Press, "Timber companies, environmentalists sign 'historic' pact," February 10, 2020
- ↑ OPB, "Environmentalists And Timber Industry Reach Agreement On Forests, Avoiding Oregon Ballot Fights," February 10, 2020
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| ||||||||||
