Student: Jay Horita-Chu
Graduation date: May 2018
Capstone type: Thesis
Capstone project:
Death & Rebirth of Oregon’s Elliott State Forest
Capstone file(s): Show file | Show file
In the state of Oregon, described as the “environmental ground zero of the timber industry,” the Elliott State Forest is the most recent of public land controversies. I examined the Elliott’s story, from its inception to its current state, with the intention of finding specific management solutions to solve the Elliott State Forest controversy and, to a lesser extent, answering the question: How can public lands stay in public hands? In the process, I uncovered some of the most bitter and long-standing disputes among governing bodies, the public, industry, and other key stakeholders. Using ArcGIS and publicly available data on land ownership, endangered species, and sensitive landscapes, I pinpointed public lands in Oregon that could be legally exchanged for the Elliott. Through interviews with the Elliott’s diverse stakeholders and a comparative analysis with similar land exchanges, I confirmed the high feasibility of an Elliott State Forest land exchange between state and federal governments. At the surface, the Elliott controversy resembles a classic standoff between environmentalists and corporations, and while this simple narrative helped establish many of our most cherished national treasures in the past, the great irony here lies in the disservice of this narrative to the true work of modern environmental studies.