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Oregon County Files $1.4 Billion Lawsuit Against State

NWNews | By Chris Lehman,
Chris Lehman
Published January 13, 2016 at 6:06 PM MST
File photo. Linn County has filed a $1.4 billion class-action lawsuit against the State of Oregon over forestry money.
Francis Eatherington
/
Flickr - tinyurl.com/gpcbgzy
File photo. Linn County has filed a $1.4 billion class-action lawsuit against the State of Oregon over forestry money.

An Oregon county is suing the state over forestry money. Commissioners from Linn County, located between Salem and Eugene, announced the $1.4 billion class-action lawsuit Wednesday at a press conference at the state Capitol.

They want the state to increase logging, since revenue from state forests is distributed among the 15 counties where the forests are located.

Portland attorney John DiLorenzo is representing Linn County. He said the state is falling short of its legal obligations to manage forest land for its greatest value.

"The state has known for quite some time that there has been a very soft underbelly to their position,” DiLorenzo said. “And I believe the Linn County Commissioners have found that soft underbelly."

The money from the lawsuit would be shared among the counties and local government agencies in those counties.

The office of Oregon Governor Kate Brown did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

Copyright 2021 Northwest News Network. To see more, visit Northwest News Network.

Northwest News Network
Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.
See stories by Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman
Chris Lehman graduated from Temple University with a journalism degree in 1997. He landed his first job less than a month later, producing arts stories for Red River Public Radio in Shreveport, Louisiana. Three years later he headed north to DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked as a reporter and announcer for NPR–affiliate WNIJ–FM. In 2006 he headed west to become the Salem Correspondent for the Northwest News Network.

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