More than 60% of Oregon’s Fourth District is federal forestland. Decades of passive management, excessive fuel buildup, deteriorating access roads, and litigation gridlock have left our forests vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire. The consequences are devastating: burned homes and habitat, hazardous smoke, shuttered mills, lost family-wage jobs, and declining revenue for rural schools, roads, and public safety.
I will work with federal, state, tribal, local, and private partners to restore active forest management, including:
Federal tree plantations should be sustainably managed to produce renewable timber, materials for American homes, and family-wage jobs. Where restoration is the better use, selected overcrowded plantations should be converted into healthier, more diverse forests that can better withstand wildfire, insects, and disease.
When a fire starts, the Forest Service and BLM must suppress it immediately or authorize capable state, local, tribal, and private crews to act. I will demand transparency regarding response decisions, contract terms, expenditures, and fires that escape initial attack. Our priority must be protecting lives, communities, and forests—not sustaining an increasingly expensive and lucrative wildfire industry.
I have already submitted public comment supporting rescission of the one-size-fits-all 2001 Roadless Rule. Rescission would not automatically authorize logging or road construction. It would allow local forest managers to determine where carefully planned access is needed for wildfire response, restoration, recreation, and public safety, while retaining environmental review and protections for sensitive areas.
Not every acre should be managed identically. Decisions should reflect the land’s condition, habitat value, wildfire risk, and suitability for sustainable timber production.
Responsible management can create family-wage jobs in forestry, trucking, firefighting, reforestation, milling, manufacturing, and equipment maintenance. Federal forest management should also honor the sustained-yield and revenue-sharing requirements governing O&C lands, generating dependable support for county schools, roads, law enforcement, and emergency services.
Healthy forests do not happen through neglect. They require stewardship, access, action, and accountability.
Issue | Monique DeSpain | Val Hoyle |
Fix Our Forests Act | Supported the legislation from the beginning. | Voted against it in September 2024, then supported the reintroduced bill in January 2025. |
O&C lands | Supports sustained-yield timber production and restoring legally required revenue to O&C counties. | Has not championed restoring sustainable harvest levels and county timber revenue. |
BLM Western Oregon plan | Supports moving the revised plan forward to improve forest health, increase responsible harvests, and stabilize rural counties. | Joined a March 2026 delegation letter requesting an extension of the public-comment period. |
Roadless Rule | Formally submitted public comment supporting rescission and restoring flexibility to local forest managers. | Has not publicly championed rescission of the national rule. |
Forest-policy support | Endorsed by Citizens for Sensible Forest Management, Forests for Oregon, Coos-Curry Farm Bureau, Oregon Family Farms Association. | Holds a 98% lifetime score from the extreme national League of Conservation Voters. |
Val Hoyle tells timber communities she supports active management, but her record too often follows the organizations that helped lock up our federal forests. I have one message throughout this district: manage our forests responsibly, protect our communities, restore rural prosperity, and demand results.