Tax-Funded Forest Institute in Oregon Misled Public, May Have Broken State Law, Audit Finds
State auditors found that an agency intended to educate the public about forestry presented biased information favoring the timber industry and possibly violated state law. The audit was prompted by our investigation last year into the agency.
Local Reporting Network
Oregon Lawmakers Set Out to Increase the Timber Industry’s Tax Bill. Instead, They Cut It Again.
Legislators cut taxes for the owners of Oregon’s private forests, money that helped fund university forest scientists. Now taxpayers will pick up the tab.
Local Reporting Network
Oregon House Moves to Curb Forest Institute’s Power and Budget
After our investigation found that a tax-funded institute acted as a lobbying arm for the timber industry, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill that would significantly cut the institute’s funding and redirect the money to climate science.
Local Reporting Network
A Timber Lobbyist Called Our Investigation “Completely Bogus.” We Have the Receipts to Show It’s Not.
Lobbyists for the timber industry have repeatedly attacked our investigation, which was based on extensive interviews and a review of thousands of documents. Here’s the evidence to back up the investigation’s major findings.
Local Reporting Network
Oregon’s Logging Industry Says It Can’t Afford New Taxes. But Prices Have Never Been Higher and Profits Are Soaring.
Lobbyists claim the timber industry is "up against the ropes." Here's what they're not saying: Lumber prices are at record highs.
Local Reporting Network
“We Have Counties in Deep Trouble”: Oregon Lawmakers Seek to Reverse Timber Tax Cuts That Cost Communities Billions
For decades, corporate timber benefited from tax cuts that devastated local budgets. Lawmakers want change and have filed dozens of bills, making this one of Oregon’s most consequential sessions for forest policy.
Local Reporting Network
Timber Tax Cuts Cost Oregon Towns Billions. Then Polluted Water Drove Up the Price.
Rural communities in Oregon paid millions of dollars for clean, safe drinking water because the state didn’t protect their watersheds from logging-related contamination.
Local Reporting Network
Oregon Governor Calls for Audit After Our Reporting on State Institute That Lobbied for Timber Industry
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute worked to undercut academic research and acted as a lobbying and public relations arm for the timber industry.
Local Reporting Network
What Happened When a Public Institute Became a De Facto Lobbying Arm of the Timber Industry
Internal emails show a tax-funded agency has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon’s timber industry.
Local Reporting Network
Big Money Bought the Forests. Small Logging Communities Are Paying the Price.
Wall Street investment funds took control of Oregon’s private forests. Now, wealthy timber corporations reap the benefits of tax cuts that have cost rural counties billions.
Local Reporting Network