Local News

Congressman Greg Walden spoke on preventing wildfires and creating jobs today during Carl Wilson’s show on KAJO AM 1270.

Walden said that he believes changing forest land regulations will prevent wildfires and increase the amount of jobs in southern Oregon and similar geographic regions. “So there are a number of us around the country that are working how the Forest Service operates, both on O&C lands, the BLM side, as well as the Forest Service on forest land. To make it more productive, to create jobs, to do something to make our forests healthier, so that we don’t have these extraordinarily catastrophic killing fires that are also very expensive,” Walden said.

During the interview, Walden also said that he does not believe in increased taxation of business owners and he will have to heavily scrutinize President Obama’s next stimulus package before he approves or disapproves it.

Walden also spoke to the Grants Pass Rotary at the Wild River Publick House today.

During his speech, Walden emphasized that Washington State makes millions every year with trusts for their schools off a fraction of the forest lands Oregon possesses. “A lot of counties around here have been working on proposals for O&C lands to say what about putting those in trusts? What about federal forest lands, could we put those that are eligible for harvest in a trust? I remember when we had the Biscuit Fire here, they removed dead trees and harvested them and they were gone and replanted. You know what happened on the federal side? Nothing,” Walden said.

Walden states that he believes Oregon’s forest lands will be better handled by local government than by federal.