The journalist and author David Cay Johnston wrote about the southern Oregon coast community of Bandon in his book “Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill):”

“For thousands of years, the Coos, the Coquille, and other Native Americans prospered off the land and the sea … The forests were rich enough to sustain a small population forever. But the owners of the timber companies wanted more profits now and so they cut faster and faster while the trees continued to grow back at rates set by nature. To hasten the harvest, new forests were planted like corn, with one kind of tree, not the diversity of nature. But still the cutting went on faster than the growing, until there was no more tomorrow to harvest.

“Automation played a role, too, wiping out thousands of well-paying jobs in the mills …. The old Weyerhaeuser mill … has been converted into a casino … Dealing cards and changing bedsheets, however, pays far less than slicing logs into lumber.”

Many towns have had far worse histories than Bandon and Coos Bay. So when the federal government promotes an increase in logging, we should be wary about the impact. And the promise of good paying jobs also has its downside. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration calls logging one of the most dangerous occupations in the United States. The fatal work injury rate is 82-136 people per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers — more than 30 times higher than the average U.S. worker.

When Lane County commissioner candidate Jake Pelroy, who has raised $300,000 in his bid to replace Heather Buch, much from lumbering interests, promises to “restore responsible forest management” in Lane County, in part by increasing lumbering, I think we should be skeptical. His fundraising, like that of commissioner David Loveall and Eugene City Council candidate John Barofsky, has been primarily from large corporate donors, whose influence on our society is already excessive. 

Buch believes in government of, by, and for the people. Pelroy, who ran Loveall’s 2022 campaign, believes in government by an elite, for profit.

Alan Cohen
Eugene