The Legislature did deal with the issue of the Sage Grouse, but much remains to be done. This is just the activity from the Christmas Tree Bill, there were other legislative actions that will be part of the overview at the AOC Summer Summit.

  • A one-time General Fund appropriation of $500,000 to Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to improve and protect sage grouse habitat through actions, such as juniper removal, that improve the resilience of sagebrush habitat to wildlife;
  • The Department of Forestry was provided $809,377 General Fund to the Fire Protection Division for sage grouse habitat protection and improvement; and
  • DLCD received an appropriation of $300,000 General Fund to establish a SageCon coordinator to lead the SageCon governance and implementation teams.

Many agencies and advocates are already looking beyond the 2015 session and planning meetings. In the coming months AOC staff will be discussing integrated floodplain management, BLM fire prioritization, Sage Grouse and sagebrush conservation, DEQ’s material management implementation, offshore power generation, and the implementation of clean fuels legislation. For any questions on these or other energy, environment or land use issues, please contact AOC Policy Manager Mark Nystrom. He likes insects.

 

AOC Policy Manager Mark Nystrom handles energy, environment & land use issues.