Opinion ID: 836383
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: requires sustainable forestry practices, other restrictions, on state, private lands

Text: RESULT OF `YES' VOTE: `Yes' vote requires sustainable forestry practices, other timber harvest restrictions, on state and private lands. RESULT OF `NO' VOTE: `No' vote retains current statutes, rules, governing forestry, timber harvest practices on state, private lands. SUMMARY: Supplements, replaces current statutes. Measure requires sustainable forestry practices on state, private forest lands, including: leaving minimum number of trees per acre, harvesting only trees within designated size range. Requires wildlife habitat preservation. Prohibits on-site slash burning, use of non-organic herbicides, pesticides. Requires filing of timber harvesting, thinning plans. Requires forestry board to adopt new restrictions. Allows board to exempt lots 160 acres or smaller on showing of undue economic hardship, if no taking of endangered, threatened wildlife species. Authorizes citizens lawsuits. Other provisions. Petitioners challenge the caption, the yes result statement, and the summary of the Attorney General's certified ballot title. [1] A ballot title must contain a caption of not more than 10 words that reasonably identifies the subject matter of the state measure. ORS 250.035(2)(a) (1997). Petitioners contend that the phrase sustainable forestry practices in the caption is misleading, because it does not reflect the subject matter of the measure. They argue that sustainable forestry practices is subject to more than one interpretation, that the phrase is politically charged, and that it has an extremely positive connotation that tends to engender support for the measure. [2] The Attorney General responds that, absent a compelling reason to the contrary, the caption should contain the words of the proposed measure in the ballot title. See Bernard v. Keisling, 317 Or. 591, 595, 858 P.2d 1309 (1993) (so stating). We agree with petitioners that the caption does not comply substantially with the requirements of ORS 250.035(2) (1997). The proposed measure identifies the criteria that the Board must use in prescribing Sustainable Forest Practices. The measure provides a detailed, technical definition of Sustainable Timber Harvest Practices and requires that Sustainable Forest Practices comply with that definition. Establishing Sustainable Forest Practices, as defined in the measure, is the primary subject matter of the measure. To identify that subject matter, the caption must inform voters that the measure defines the phrase Sustainable Forest Practices in a particular way. It is possible both to use the words of the proposed measure in the caption and to inform the voters that the measure defines those words. Doing so, however, requires us to substitute the word forest for the words state and private in the Attorney General's certified caption, to remain within the 10-word limit of ORS 250.035(2)(a) (1997). We also substitute the word forest for the word forestry, because that is the word that is used in the measure. Accordingly, we modify the Attorney General's caption as follows: