Voters want balance

Oregonians strongly support common-sense measures to protect our roadless wild areas and old-growth forests, and to restore balance to the troubled Klamath Basin.

Oregon Republicans and Democrats alike should closely heed the results of a recent survey of Oregon voters on critical environmental issues ranging from logging to global warming.

The survey of 400 probable voters by an independent New York polling firm showed that Oregonians are deeply concerned about the environment but favor balanced strategies that also allow economic growth.

That's a difficult balance to achieve, and the partisan winner-take-all approach that too often marks debates over environmental issues doesn't make it any easier.

The July poll, commissioned by a coalition of conservation groups, showed that 55 percent of voters supported commercial logging on public lands as long as old-growth trees are left standing. In contrast, only one in four supported full-bore logging, while 15 percent favored severe constraints. Also, 72 percent wanted to restrict logging, mining and other commercial activities in roadless federal forests.

Such results suggest the majority of Oregonians support salvage logging of trees killed by the 2002 Biscuit fire on acreage previously designated for commercial cutting, as well as some older forest reserves. But they indicate little support for the Bush administration's post-fire targeting of timber on roadless lands in the rugged and ecologically sensitive Kalmiopsis Wilderness.

On another issue, roughly two-thirds of voters surveyed said they would react negatively to Oregon lawmakers who attempt to block new pollution-control standards for cars and trucks. That finding may be of interest to Republican legislators who voted in the last session to do just that, prompting Gov. Ted Kulongoski to wield his veto and direct the state's Department of Environmental Quality to put the tough new tailpipe rules in place.

In other findings:

• Ninety-three percent said elected officials should resolve the water conflicts that have gripped the Klamath Basin in recent years.

• Forty percent said state lawmakers should do more to provide permanent refuge for endangered fish and wildlife, while 27 percent said lawmakers have done enough and 21 percent said they've already done too much.

• A majority of voters said they would react less favorably to lawmakers who accept campaign gifts from polluters, support tax breaks for companies that pollute and cut programs that clean up the Willamette River.

While the survey was paid for by environmental groups, it shouldn't be written off as biased. The polling company, Mercury Public Affairs, has done work for Republican candidates, and the firm surveyed a political cross-section of voters.

Oregon lawmakers should keep a copy of this survey in their back pockets as a reminder of the balanced approach that most voters want - and that usually offers the best hope for compromises that have the political and public support necessary for success.