SALEM, Ore. – A timber tax is under discussion in Salem this legislative session.
House Bill 2379 would impose a severance tax on timber owners at the time of harvest. That money would go into a statewide Emergency Wildfire Fund.
However, politicians have varying viewpoints on how this would impact the timber industry.
“[The timber industry are] the ones not causing catastrophic wildfires. You can’t ignore the decades of environmental neglect on the public landscape, where the fires are burning. [Then] attack the private timber owners that are managing that resource, in a way, that fires don’t burn,” said Republican State Representative David Brock Smith.