Hey Folks,
Commissioner John Sweet is lagging behind on this issue too. Instead of going to the people with a Resolution in support of separating the CBWR from the O&C once and for all. Mr. Sweet decided to hire an expensive Lobbyist, who knew little on the subject, to court the federal Senators and Congressman in DC., which is the wrong tactic. He is also in favor of having the Coquille Indian Tribe manage both parcels of land, becasue he believes the Tribe, as a sovereign nation, is immune to lawsuits from Environmentalist. That same immunity is a double edged sword, because they can use it against any legal claim from the county, so lets pressure our Congressman to do the right thing and give back this public land to the people of Coos County. The people of Coos County can put it to much better use than the federal government.....Rob T.
Commissioner John Sweet is lagging behind on this issue too. Instead of going to the people with a Resolution in support of separating the CBWR from the O&C once and for all. Mr. Sweet decided to hire an expensive Lobbyist, who knew little on the subject, to court the federal Senators and Congressman in DC., which is the wrong tactic. He is also in favor of having the Coquille Indian Tribe manage both parcels of land, becasue he believes the Tribe, as a sovereign nation, is immune to lawsuits from Environmentalist. That same immunity is a double edged sword, because they can use it against any legal claim from the county, so lets pressure our Congressman to do the right thing and give back this public land to the people of Coos County. The people of Coos County can put it to much better use than the federal government.....Rob T.
Any similarity between the O&C lands and the CBWR (Coos Bay Wagon Road) lands ends with their respective management by the BLM (US Bureau of Land Management). Despite reports to the contrary the CBWR land conveyance had nothing whatsoever to do with the O&C Railroad land re-vestment. “The CBWR lands came into being through an 1869 Act of Congress in exchange for successfully constructing a military wagon road between Roseburg and Coos Bay…” The Act of 1919 distributed funds derived from the CBWR proportionately to Coos and Douglas counties. In 1937, Congress passed The O&C Lands Act which provided for the “permanent forest production; protection of watersheds and regulation of stream flow… and provisions for reimbursing the O&C counties the loss of tax revenues from the O&C lands“. Unfortunately, the drafters of the ’37 Act forgot to address the CBWR and consequently the matter had to be addressed again by Congress in 1939 to correct the omission.
How receipts collected for timber harvested from the Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands were handled was not addressed by the O&C Act of 1937. In 1939 the Coos Bay Wagon Road Act of 1939 became law. The 1939 Act established an in lieu tax payment program for paying Coos and Douglas Counties in lieu of taxes for the Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands.
The Coos Bay Wagon Road Act of 1939 not only reaffirmed the Act of 1919 and unlike the O&C lands allowed for payments-in-lieu-of-taxes or PILT that are not tethered to simply to timber harvests. Simply enforcing an existing Congressional Act will bring badly needed revenue to the county.
Upon appraisal thereof, the land and timber thereon shall be assessed as are other similar properties within the respective counties, and payments hereunder in lieu of taxes shall be computed by applying the same rates of taxation as are applied to privately owned property of similar character in such counties.
Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed O&C Land Grant Act of 2014 is set to reproduce the identical error as the 1937 Congress and give away 60,000 acres of Coos County’s tax base. It seems that a simple letter or phone call should suffice to advise Wyden’s staff of the error but last spring the county hired a lobbyist to the tune of $5,000 per month to rescue the CBWR from Wyden’s bill. Unfortunately, there is no indication the lobbyist, Ray Bucheger of FBB Federal Relations, (who also works for Jordan Cove and the Port of Coos Bay), understands the history of the CBWR any better than our current commission or has made any progress in moving Wyden’s staff in the right direction. Nevertheless, Commissioner John Sweet supports continuing the expense in order to “have an ear on the ground” while the legislative process moves forward and the county commission essentially does nothing.
How receipts collected for timber harvested from the Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands were handled was not addressed by the O&C Act of 1937. In 1939 the Coos Bay Wagon Road Act of 1939 became law. The 1939 Act established an in lieu tax payment program for paying Coos and Douglas Counties in lieu of taxes for the Coos Bay Wagon Road Lands.
The Coos Bay Wagon Road Act of 1939 not only reaffirmed the Act of 1919 and unlike the O&C lands allowed for payments-in-lieu-of-taxes or PILT that are not tethered to simply to timber harvests. Simply enforcing an existing Congressional Act will bring badly needed revenue to the county.
Upon appraisal thereof, the land and timber thereon shall be assessed as are other similar properties within the respective counties, and payments hereunder in lieu of taxes shall be computed by applying the same rates of taxation as are applied to privately owned property of similar character in such counties.
Senator Ron Wyden’s proposed O&C Land Grant Act of 2014 is set to reproduce the identical error as the 1937 Congress and give away 60,000 acres of Coos County’s tax base. It seems that a simple letter or phone call should suffice to advise Wyden’s staff of the error but last spring the county hired a lobbyist to the tune of $5,000 per month to rescue the CBWR from Wyden’s bill. Unfortunately, there is no indication the lobbyist, Ray Bucheger of FBB Federal Relations, (who also works for Jordan Cove and the Port of Coos Bay), understands the history of the CBWR any better than our current commission or has made any progress in moving Wyden’s staff in the right direction. Nevertheless, Commissioner John Sweet supports continuing the expense in order to “have an ear on the ground” while the legislative process moves forward and the county commission essentially does nothing.
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