ALBANY, Ore. — A trial that could shape how Oregon harvests its forest trust lands is underway, with 14 counties and dozens of smaller taxing districts saying they want $1.4 billion because the state has failed to manage them for the “greatest permanent value” as required.
The trial began Thursday in Linn County Circuit Court and is expected to last three weeks, the Albany Democrat-Herald reported .
The breach-of-contract lawsuit has its origins in the Great Depression, when thousands of acres of timberlands were harvested by privately owned companies. The landowners abandoned the lands to the county after cutting the trees, figuring it wasn’t worth it to replant and then wait 40 to 60 years to harvest again.
But the counties didn’t want the properties, either, and couldn’t afford to reforest them. Working with the state, the counties turned the timberlands over to the Board of Forestry, with the understanding that the state would replant and share the income with the counties upon harvesting, managing for the “greatest permanent value.”