Forests for Oregon 10/22/2025

Forests for Oregon is a thought which will free Oregon in a number of ways to save Oregonians from the oppression they have been under over the past forty years. It is geared towards the proper management of forests although it is for all of Oregon's resources. Most of the forests are controlled by the Federal government which needs to be turned over to the state and then Oregonians.

There were three main arguments why the Federal government should turn over the land to Utah and all of the Western states and here are those arguments:

The Sovereignty Principle which says at the formation of the thirteen original states that all states should have equal sovereignty. Every state should have the same laws handling land as they have for other states’ rights.

As states were added they would be divided by natural federally determined borders and then the Federal troops would maintain the peace and set up forts and administrative buildings to keep those borders. Inside the forts the states would form their gummits and divide the land into parcels for citizens to settle whether it was by purchase of the Homestead Act giving them 640 acres to develop in ten years.

The Equal Footing Doctrine Builds on the Sovereignty principle stating that all new states were expected to have Equal Footing as the original thirteen states as well as every other state. This is what the Founding Fathers said when new states were added to the original thirteen so there were no super states receiving favored treatment especially concerning the land. This makes states like Oregon completely unequal since it does not have the ability to use or settle all of their land and has less than fifty percent available to develop.

The Compact Theory states that when a state was formed there is a compact clause which infers a solemn compact between the state and federal government there would be a timely dispersal of the land. There was no intention to withhold the dispersal of the land and the Fed has broken that compact by not turning the land over to the states as it was done historically.

There is a Compact Clause in Oregon’s constitution and has not been tested for its legality although the Supreme Court has ruled favorably the times it has been challenged in the past.

These are the main arguments in the Utah lawsuit Forests for Oregon has built its argument around. The same arguments apply to the state as to why it has taken so long to sell the land to the people. It should have occurred 150 years ago and certainly should be done now.

This is the biggest issue in Oregon as the forests are in crisis right now due to not being good stewards of the land and mismanaged it into a tinder box waiting for a spark.

This would be a boon to the state as the resources would be used rather than destroyed and people could have affordable housing by giving them low-priced land to build their homes on. It is time to get on board with Forests for Oregon and turn this state into the economic powerhouse it deserves.

Pray for Forests for Oregon