Tag: Oregon Natural Resource Industries

Oregon Department of Forestry’s New Thinking: Watch Forests and Taxpayer Dollars Go Up in Flames
14-50 Bailout: Oregon Department of Forestry Chooses to Be Insolvent

14-50 Bailout: Oregon Department of Forestry Chooses to Be Insolvent

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Show 14-50 Summary: Too big to fail? Too green to fail? For an agency designed to fund itself and some 200 other public agencies and services, like rural schools, counties, roads, police, and fire, the new “thinking” at the Oregon Department of Forestry just ran out of sustainability. It is now insolvent. And required a special session of the legislature to bail them out because they couldn’t pay the bills they owed for firefighting. But it’s going to get worse with the environmentalists’ new scheme. We talk with Jennifer Hamaker of Oregon Natural Resources and State Rep. Ed Diehl, to find out what happened, why it happened, and how this is all going to get a lot worse.

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Original Air Dates: December 14th & 15th, 2024 | Guest: Jen Hamaker & Ed Diehl

This Week – Oregon Department of Forestry Insolvent

The legislature held a special session this week to bailout a state agency. One that, since its inception, has been self funding. The Oregon Department of Forestry. Which this year could not pay its own bills for firefighting and had to be rescued by the taxpayer. While it’s not surprising a government agency spent too much and needed more money, this is way worse than the usual government failure.

The Oregon Department of Forestry was designed to fund itself. And not only that, it also funds some 200 other public entities and services. But not any more. Because now ODF has redesigned itself to fail. And to soak up taxpayer dollars. Instead of generating income for the state, it is now a liability. Leadership at Oregon Department of Forestry has determined it no longer wants to do its fundamental job. Which is to oversee—and make money from—the sale of timber on state lands.

But no more. By implementing a massive Habitat Conservation Plan (or HCP), the ODF has ensured its own perpetual bankruptcy. For the next 70 years.

Let’s recap. The Oregon Department of Forestry is supposed to harvest timber on state lands. It doesn’t want to do that. ODF is supposed to manage the forests. It doesn’t want to do that. Managing the forests means preventing fires. It doesn’t want to do that. ODF is supposed to ensure an ongoing, profitable, perpetual, and sustainable timber harvest for the future. It doesn’t want to do that.

What does it want to do? Apparently, sell carbon credits. But there is a real problem with that. (Aside from the fact it’s a massive scam.)

So Why is Oregon Department of Forestry Bankrupt?

We talk with Jen Hamaker, the president of ONRI (Oregon Natural Resource Industries) to find out the Oregon Department of Forestry got into this mess. It was a massive, self-inflicted wound. Like someone who gets injured and then gets surgery to stay disabled so they don’t have to work. Jen walks us through what the ODF was designed to do, what it is doing now, and why the need for a special session to bail them out. And if democrat lawmakers think this is going to get better, think again. This is now baked in. The Oregon Department of Forestry has changed from a billion dollar asset to a billion dollar liability.

Then we talk with State Representative, Ed Diehl (R-HD17), about what happened at the special session. Why did they call the meeting to session and then immediately go behind closed-door committee meetings? Were deals being cut? Rep. Diehl also confirms that ODF is now insolvent. Bankrupt.

ODF’s New Plan: Carbon Credits. Get Paid for Doing Nothing

And it’s only going to get worse. Why? Because the Oregon Department of Forestry wants to move away from forestry and into the carbon credit scheme.

A scheme based on false premises (CO2 is not the enemy, and it is not a pollutant). And a scheme that is likely to fall apart as all across the nation, states lose federal funding for their net zero initiatives.

And we ask, how would this be different if Republicans were in charge? Because this whole Oregon Department of Forestry fiasco is about to get a lot worse — a lot worse — with democrat super majorities in Oregon’s house and senate.

We can all agree ODF needed to pay the bills owed to firefighters. Some whom had to take out huge loans to make ends meet while waiting to be paid. But this bailout doesn’t fix the problem that ODF just created for itself. And its solution to lock up Oregon’s forest lands — let ’em burn! — Oregon Department of Forestry has just made things a lot worse.

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

  • Jen Hamaker’s organization is Oregon Natural Resource Industries. Visit them at ONRI.us
  • Rep. Ed Diehl’s website is www.eddiehl.com
  • Oregon isn’t paying its wildfire bills on time. Now legislators must act (OPB, December 11, 2024)
  • Taxpayers “gave” billions to create interest-bearing endowments for Far-Left environmental groups that assault natural resources: “Environmental nonprofit fundraising draws criticism across political spectrum (Capital Press, Nov 14, 2024)
    • An analysis showed “20 nonprofit environmental organizations active in the West … have total net assets of nearly $2 billion dollars”
    • “a significant amount of the money is set aside as an endowment to generate income”
  • This isn’t going to work. Oregon’s Department of Forestry’s plan to stop harvesting timber and start selling carbon credits will fail when the federal government stops cuts the trillions (yes, trillions) of dollars for “Climate Change.”
  • Oregon’s carbon credits scheme to get to net zero, like all states, depends heavily on federal funding.
  • How much federal funding for states’ net zero funding? About $40 billion. (via Perplexity, retrieved Dec 13, 2024).
    • Do democrat state lawmakers honestly think the Trump will continue that scam? (If so, we have a unicorn to sell them.
  • Sen. James Lankford Offers Sneak Peak Into How Exactly DOGE Will Clean Up Government Waste and Abuse (The Daily Signal, Dec 11, 2024)
13-49 Common Sense Prevails | Elliott State Research Forest Plan Gets Sidelined

13-49 Common Sense Prevails | Elliott State Research Forest Plan Gets Sidelined

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Show 13-49 Summary: Could this be a win for Oregon? And common sense? It sure looks like one. Out of the blue, the Elliott State Research Forest plan, which would remove most of Oregon’s largest state forest from production to “study” it — suddenly, Oregon State University pulled out. To use the Left’s favorite catchphrase, it just wasn’t sustainable. Thanks also goes to the tribal nations who thought the plan was not only a financial mess but an environmental mess too. But was there more afoot here than meets the eye? Was it all a scheme to put something else in place? We talk the history of the Elliott State Forest, the evolution of research plan, and how government created the problem it could then fix. If only we spent billions on it.

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Original Air Dates: December 9, 2023 | Guests: Dr. Bob Zybach and Jen Hamaker

This Week – Elliott State Research Forest Plan Sidelined

After years of planning (scheming) and millions of dollars spent on the deal to decommission Oregon’s largest state forest. out of the blue, Oregon State University president, Jayathi Murthy, backed out. That took real courage. As I Spy Radio has been saying all along, this was never going to make financial sense. Nor environmental sense for the endangered species the environmentalists claimed they wanted to help.

What happened?

We talk with long-time guest and I Spy Radio‘s “in house” forestry and timber expert, Dr. Bob Zybach about why this forest deal was a boondoggle from the start. And with Jen Hamaker, president of ONRI, whose organization helped drive public outcry against Oregon’s statewide Habitat Conservation Plan. And how that outcry helped lead OSU’s president to make the right decision.

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Environmentalists

As of this writing, this looks like a win for Oregon. And common sense.

Remember, Oregon, by law, is supposed to be making money for the Common School Fund from its forests. But Far Left environmentalists have seized control in Oregon and are working to do anything but harvest timber. Which means they really don’t understand the environment at all. Just ask the tribal nations.

Who did, in fact, tell the environmentalists exactly that. The Elliott State Research Forest would not work. Not financially. And not be sustainable environmentally either. It would, in fact, create a worse habitat for the species they claimed they wanted to protect.

their plans would ruin the which would remove most of the state forest from production to “study” it — suddenly, Oregon State University pulled out. If it can’t be resurrected by December 31, 2023, the deal will sunset. Thankfully, OSU staff saw the impractical and nonviable finances and withdrew. Thanks in large part, too, to the tribal nations who thought the plan was not only a financial mess but an environmental mess too. One that ignored common sense and basic understanding of forestry. (Keep in mind, this was a management scheme cooked up by so-called “environmentalists.”) But was there more afoot here than meets the eye? Was it all a scheme to put something else in place? We talk the history of the Elliott State Forest, the evolution of research plan, and how government created the problem it could then fix. If only we spent billions on it.

What You’ll Learn on Today’s Show

  • How the Elliott State Forest was sabotaged by the government, creating a problem that needed to be solved
  • Why public outcry against the Elliott State Research Forest played a huge role in OSU backing out as the research partner
  • How Oregon is stealing from its own children. Millions spent on the plan when the Elliott State Forest should have been generating millions of dollars, every year, for the Common School Fund

Be sure to scroll down to the Links & Info section to see the flurry of letters back and forth about the end of the Elliott deal, Dr. Bob’s “boondoggle” article, and more.

  • Why the tribes said this wouldn’t work
  • The secretive, closed-door meetings to push the plan
  • Was there something else behind this scheme to take the Elliott Forest offline?
  • Who would profit from a “side plan” to sell carbon credits

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Related Information

  • Read the alternative proposal to the Elliott State Research Forest: The Giesy Plan.
  • Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels (The Guardian, Dec 3, 2023)*“Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and
    Media

    gas would take world ‘back into caves’”

13-42 Winds of War: Billions from Offshore Wind Farms – and Fighting Back

13-42 Winds of War: Billions from Offshore Wind Farms – and Fighting Back

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Show 13-42 Summary: Do you remember how environmentalists used to want to “save the whales”? And they were angry at “greedy corporations”? Now, those same environmentalists have figured out they can make billions from taxpayers by forcing states to take definitely-not-green offshore wind farms. Whales be damned. Calling it “green” doesn’t make it environmentally friendly. Calling it “saving the planet” doesn’t make it less greedy. This week, learn about the expensive, inefficient, and environmentally damaging wind farms the Biden administration is eager to shove down states’ throats. And how to fight back. Because right now, they’re trying to shove a windfarm off Oregon’s Southern Coast.

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Original Air Dates: October 21st & 22nd, 2023 | Guests: Craig Rucker & Jennifer Hamaker

This Week – The Lunacy of Wind Farms

It’s always easy to spend someone else’s money. Just ask any politician. It’s even easier to spend it if those billions (trillions!) you’re spending are going to people who will help re-elect you. Ever since I Spy Radio’s first year in 2011, we recognized that the environmental movement had become anti-development, anti-free-market, and decidedly anti-American.

It just so happens another organization got its own start with much the same realization: The Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Or CFACT. CFACT started back in 1985 and since then, they have grown into one of the most trusted, most respected sources of real information and real action to push back against the Far Left environmental movement. And win.

Right now, the Biden administration is giving out billions of free taxpayer dollars in a spending spree making the $130 billion (and counting) to Ukraine look like pocket money. Biden is shoving 100s of billions into wind farms. And, in particular, offshore wind farms.

CFACT on Offshore Windfarms

This week, we welcome Craig Rucker, the president and co-founder of CFACT, to talk about green energy, the billions the Left is making from it, and the billions of taxpayer dollars wasted on these offshore wind farms.

If you are not familiar with CFACT, you should be. Check out their great work, articles, videos, and a lot more on cfact.org.
And if you’re looking for good, reliable, and real facts about “green energy,” Global Warming, and more, be sure to visit CFACT’s Climate Depot.

It turns out these offshore wind farms are most definitely not environmentally friendly. On the East Coast, where there are already more than 3,000 wind farms spread out of 2.3 million acres. And since then, whales have been washing ashore, dead, in unprecedented numbers. Including the highly endangered Right Whale, of which there are less than 300 animals remaining. Why? Here’s a hint. It’s not Global Warming. The only thing that changed in their environment were these wind farms.

But what can we do to stop these? Especially here in Oregon, where greedy developers and government bureaucrats eager to spend 100s of billions of mandated taxpayer dollars have their sights on Oregon’s beautiful Southern Coast.

Tune in to hear how CFACT is successfully fighting back. And how the economics of “green” isn’t green when they start losing taxpayer subsidies.

Don’t miss: Conservation Nation’s (a CFACT project) video, “Save the Whales from Ocean Industrialization.”

Offshore Wind Farms off Oregon’s Southern Coast

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has targeted Oregon’s pristine Southern Coast for one of Biden’s costly offshore wind farms. We bring back Jennifer Hamaker, the president of Oregon Natural Resource Industries (or ONRI), to talk about this multi-billion-dollar windfarm project.

Jennifer, whose family on her dad’s side were commercial fishermen, talks to us what it’s like to grow up in a fishing family. What the way of life means to them. And how these offshore wind farms will endanger that way of life, the fish and birds and mammals in the sea, and the coastal communities.

And for what? A multi-billion-dollar wind farm that will only generate about 1.2 gigawatts of electricity. So greedy green companies can make billions, endangering the marine life environmentalists claim they want to protect, only to generate not even 10% of Coos Bay’s yearly electric? Really?

Help Stop Oregon’s Planned Offshore Wind Farm

ONRI is helping organize resistance to the offshore wind farm scheme. They have gotten the word out about public meetings. And are alerting people to get their public comments in to oppose this windfarm.

Screenshot public comment page for BOEM's offshore wind farm off Oregon's Coast
They kind of hide the comment button. (Click for full size.)

And it’s been working. There has been so much push back, especially at these public meetings, that the bureaucrats have pushed back the deadline for public comments until October 31, 2023.

Submit your public comments today about the planned offshore wind farm off Oregon’s coast. Go here for the main page to read the document if you’d like. Note that they kind of hide the comment button (see the picture before you head there). Or just go here to jump directly to the comment page.

Don’t be silent! Public outcry has been proven to stop these ugly, expensive, colossal taxpayer swindles. Skeptical? Then listen and learn.

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Craig Rucker from CFACT (Segments 1–3)

  • Craig Rucker’s organization is The Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow or “CFACT.” Visit them at cfact.org.
  • Be sure to read Craig’s excellent op-ed in The Hill: “A New Study Zaps Biden’s Plan to Transform the Electrical Grid” (Craig Rucker, The Hill, October 3rd, 2023)
    • “The problem is not the addition of wind and solar. The problem is the subtraction of coal, gas and other dispatchable resources [that] we need during this transition…The grid has to have power being fed into it every second of every minute of every hour of every day to keep the lights on.”
  • Want good information to push back against Climate Change insanity and the cult of Global Warming? Then you definitely will want to go to Climate Depot, a project of CFACT.
  • Don’t miss: Conservation Nation (a CFACT project) video, ” Save the Whales from Ocean Industrialization.”
  • “Save the whales” CFACT boats protest offshore wind construction (CFACT.org, Rucker, July 25, 2023)
  • Green cannot survive without massive taxpayer dollars: “New York denies offshore wind developer request to raise rates, throwing more projects into doubt” (Just the News, Oct 13, 2023)
  • Bill Gates sees ‘a lot of climate exaggeration’ out there (Fortune, Sept 20, 2023)
  • Climate Activists Cutting, Burying Trees (Epoch Times, Oct 13, 2023)

Jennifer Hamaker on Oregon’s Offshore Wind Farm Scheme (Segments 4–6)

 

13-35 The Habitat Conservation Plan Designed to Destroy Habitat

13-35 The Habitat Conservation Plan Designed to Destroy Habitat

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Show 13-35 Summary: From all appearances, Oregon’s Board of Forestry seems determined to press forward with their disastrous habitat conservation plan (HCP), regardless of how much opposition there is against it. But there are still a couple of chances to stop it. We talk with Jennifer Hamaker of Oregon Natural Resource Industries about the looming vote in Salem this week and what can still be done to stop Oregon from abandoning its state forests for 70 years. Plus, where is all this heading? Are Oregon’s other natural resource industries also on the chopping block?

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The I Spy Radio Show airs weekends, six different times, on seven different stations. Listen anywhere through the stations’ live streams! Check out when, where, and how to listen to the I Spy Radio Show. Podcast available Mondays after the show airs on out network of stations.

Original Air Dates: September 2nd & 3rd, 2023 | Guest: Jennifer Hamaker

This Week – The Habitat Conservation Plan

We check in with Jennifer Hamaker from Oregon Natural Resource Industries (ONRI) to get an update on Oregon’s disastrous “plan” for it’s state forests: abandon them for 70 years under a Habitat Conservation Plan. The board had originally pushed the decision back to November but suddenly moved it back to September 6th and 7th — this week. For a 70 year plan, you’d think they’d take the time to get it right. But as we learn, the reality is, they were going to do it regardless. Once again, government has forgotten it works for the people.

Anyone else think they just laugh and laugh at that thought behind closed doors?

Board of Forestry Salem Meeting

Oregon’s Board of Forestry is meeting in Salem, September 6th and 7th, to decide to rubber stamp this disastrous plan. We say rubber stamp because if you read their resolution, the wording is all but identical whether they pass it or not. They will still pursue an HCP. See for yourself:

ODF chair's resolution regarding the Oregon habitat conservation plan
It’s the identical except for “current process.” (click image for full size)

But all that is needed is for one board member to flip their vote to delay the process. A seventy year project needs more discussion. Especially since affected state agencies and school districts, like the Jewell School District, have not known the full consequences or extent of the loss of funding. And the state still has no plans to make up the lost revenue. Revenue, which Tina Kotek calls an “outdated funding model.”

Want to go to the Salem Meeting? The comment period is from 8am – 10 am both days, September 6th and 7th. The Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters is at 2600 State St, Salem (Google map). Even if you can’t testify (all the spots are currently taken), you can drop off written testimony. And just being there in opposition sends the message.

Oregon’s Habitat Conservation Plan Won’t Work

Because Oregon is abandoning 53% of its state forests, with no human activity allowed, this habitat conservation plan — despite its (allegedly) good intentions —  will destroy the habitat it’s intended to protect. Why? Because here in Oregon, we get forest fires. Lots of them. And with lack of management, we get more of them. What do you think will happen in “protected” areas that have zero management. Does the State think squirrels will don fire gear and put them out?

Find out more about Oregon’s HCP at Oregon Stronger Together

What’s this about “no human activity,” you ask? But Oregon’s habitat conservation plan doesn’t do that, you say. They tell us so.

Yes, they do. But like so much of government, the HCP is just one layer. While Oregon’s habitat conservation plan doesn’t rule out human activity, the next layer does. The Forest Management Plan. Ah, yes. There is always another layer to bureaucracy. That way, they can scoff, honestly, about the HCP not stopping human activity. Silly citizens! Oh, but the Forest Management Plan? The plan we’re not talking about? Well, yes. As you’ll hear from Jennifer Hamaker, that plan will keep humans out of the forests.

And the bigger question is: where is all of this heading? If the state is taking these lands offline, in contravention of its own laws, what’s next? Fishing? Farming?

Perhaps this article will give you a clue: “These 14 American Cities Have a ‘Target’ of Banning Meat, Dairy, and Private Vehicles by 2030.”

And that’s why this effort by the “environmentalists” to seize Oregon’s state forests and lands needs to be stopped. Now.

HCP Lawsuit

If the state plows through with its plan, the answer is to do what the environmental Left is already doing. Sue the state. According to a Statesman-Journal article, the multiple lawsuits brought by environmental groups to do more to protect endangered species. ONRI is currently looking for a lawyer to take on this case. That will take a lot of money. Please consider helping them hire an attorney. Unlike leftist “non-profits,” ONRI does not get millions in taxpayer dollars from Global Warming.

We’ll have Jennifer on again to get updates later on in the fall.

The I Spy Radio Show Podcast Version

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Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

Jennifer Hamaker is president of Oregon Natural Resource Industries, or ONRI. Their websites are www.onri.us and www.oregonstrongertogether.com . Please donate to help ONRI stand up for Oregon’s natural resources! Right now, they need to raise funds for an attorney.

Why does Oregon need a Habitat Conservation Plan to govern state forests? (Statesman Journal, Aug 19, 2023)

3 years after historic wildfires, report suggests state contributed (Statesman Journal, Aug 18, 2023)

What’s coming next? “These 14 American Cities Have a ‘Target’ of Banning Meat, Dairy, and Private Vehicles by 2030” (The Federalist, Aug. 19th, 2023).