Letter: Concerns me

Published 12:15 am Tuesday, August 6, 2024

Rep. Cyrus Javadi’s recent guest column in The Astorian (July 16) was consistent with his support of the timber industry since his election in 2022. He clearly opposes the Oregon Board of Forestry’s decision to approve the habitat conservation plan. His stated motivation is his concern that constituents in his district, especially here in Clatsop County, will lose valuable services as well as jobs.

Although Rep. Javadi puts a figure on what it will cost the counties, no one really knows at this point. What we do know is that in 2020, Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica reported that the timber industry’s successful lobbying in the 1990s, which mostly eliminated the severance tax in Oregon, has cost the timber counties several billion dollars since then. Its hard to imagine such an impact from the HCP, which allows timber harvests in all HCP designated areas.

While Rep. Javadi seems sincere in his concern for local communities, in politics things are never as simple as they may seem. Javadi has received large contributions from the Bring Balance to Salem PAC, which gets significant funding from the timber industry. In his column, Rep. Javadi wrote that his views on timber harvests were “about preserving our way of life.” Did he really mean his way of life?

It concerns me that Rep. Javadi doesn’t prioritize the environmental benefits of the HCP.

ROGER DORBAND

Astoria