Governor Kitzhaber Names Tom Tuchmann to Key Forestry Post

Press Release

Tom Tuchmann will serve as Governor Kitzhaber's Forestry and Conservation Finance Advisor, focusing on facilitating solutions on Oregon & California Lands (O&C Lands), working with the Department of Forestry on other federal forest issues, and developing conservation finance opportunities to conserve private working forests throughout the state. Mr. Tuchmann is President of US Forest Capital, advising clients on projects that benefit forest resources and enhance local economies.

"I am pleased that Tom is joining my team to lead several forest policy efforts, especially related to Oregon's O&C Lands," said Governor Kitzhaber. "We are committed to making sure our federal forests are managed to provide economic and environmental benefits, and we are working on solutions with the timber industry, local governments, conservation groups, our congressional delegation and federal agencies. We are equally committed to making sure private forests, and the jobs and local economies that depend on them, are sustained over time. Together, Oregon's public and private forests are among the most productive in the world and a leading source of our wealth in terms of jobs, capital, quality of life, and ecological diversity."

The loss of local revenue from timber production and Congressional defunding of the Secure Rural Schools Act has created an urgent situation in many rural counties and communities across Oregon. The situation is especially acute in southwest Oregon counties associated with O&C Lands. Mr. Tuchmann's first priority will be working directly on the O&C lands management issue to facilitate solutions that balance economic and conservation attributes, break the land management gridlock, and increase employment and investment in Oregon's timber communities.

Mr. Tuchmann previously served as Western Director and Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, where he successfully directed negotiations and implementation of the $480 million Headwaters Forest Agreement. He also has served as the Director of the U.S. Office of Forestry and Economic Development, where he led the development and implementation of President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan. Mr. Tuchmann has also served as lead staff for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and Director of Resource Policy at the Society of American Foresters. Mr. Tuchmann is a forestry graduateof Northern Arizona University and earned a Masters degree in natural resource policy from Pennsylvania State University.

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