Enviro group wants county out of land use association

Environmentalists are turning up the pressure on Lane County to pull its longtime membership in the Association of O&C Counties, calling the group a radical, pro-timber lobby that uses taxpayer dollars to promote clear-cutting of forests. The association said it has soundly represented county interests on federal timberland in Western Oregon for 80 years. But the county Board of Commissioners chairman is highly critical and said the county’s fiscal challenges have put membership back at the forefront of debate. The association, named for the Oregon and California Railroad that once owned the 5 million acres of timberland, represents counties with a stake in the management of the lands, which are now controlled by the federal Bureau of Land Management. Oregon Wild, a Portland-based environmental group, said the association has long used dues paid by Lane and other counties to take “extreme” positions, such as clear-cutting near streams and supporting sweeping sales of public land for timber harvest...Register-Guard