Three ballot initiatives that would have restricted clear-cutting and aerial spraying in Oregon have failed to qualify for the November general election. As first reported in the
Jan. 8, 2016 NAAA eNewsletter, one of the petitions, which would have imposed new limits on aerial pesticide applications, was able to obtain the Oregon Supreme Court’s approval for its ballot title language. Then, in
March and
June, NAAA reported that proponents of the ballot proposals were working to get the 88,184 requisite signatures while Oregon’s Department of Agriculture attempted to pre-empt the ballot initiatives through rulemaking. NAAA can now report that supporters were unable to collect enough valid signatures for their court-approved ballot before the July 8 deadline.
The state’s highest court has yet to rule on the ballot title for another petition that would restrict aerial spraying and logging in landslide-prone areas. A third petition to prohibit clear-cut timber harvests was withdrawn by supporters due to legal complications involving forestland property value laws. Representatives for Oregonians for Food & Shelter, an agribusiness group in the state, expressed satisfaction that the initiatives won’t be on the November ballot, but assume state environmental groups will revive the effort as will state legislators during the Oregon legislature’s session next year. Lawmakers rejected such proposals during the 2015 legislative session once they learned about the negative consequences of proposed legislation’s effects. Oregon Wild—an environmental activist group—is taking a long-term interest in enacting timber reforms, possibly with initiatives on the 2018 or 2020 ballots, according to its representatives.
Efforts remain afoot in Oregon to obtain signatures for ballots to ban aerial spraying in Lincoln and Lane counties in Oregon. However, time is running short for the Lincoln County effort while the deadline has passed for the Lane County petition to qualify for the November ballot. Either petition could also qualify for the May 2017 election. The Oregon Forest & Industries Council is also working to quell these initiatives by promoting the great technical improvements made to prevent off-site spray drift by the timber industry. Representatives there have stated that aside from a few incidents, pesticide spraying in forestry has proven to be safe.
