The Oregon State Land Board – comprised of the Governor, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer – recently appointed Kaitlin Lovell of Colton, Oregon as the new Director of the Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL). Lovell currently serves as the Manager of the Regulatory Strategy Division of the City of Portland Bureau of Environmental Services.
DSL works on behalf of the State Land Board to manage approximately 680,000 acres of Oregon lands, including agricultural, industrial, and residential lands, along with about 768,550 acres of mineral and energy rights statewide for the benefit of Oregon’s public schools. DSL also regulates activities that remove or fill materials within wetlands and Oregon waterways. The revenue that DSL receives is directed to Oregon’s Common School Fund.
Lovell’s strong conservation background will surely be challenged as the State struggles to find equilibrium between the needs of people and nature. Governor Kotek, who has pledged to make housing more affordable in Oregon, is making a strong push to put more state lands to housing uses. As part of these efforts, the Governor revealed an online map with the goal of making state inventory of land more transparent.
The DSL FY27 biennium budget passed the legislature and includes new positions to support the Governor’s priority. At the same time, the State is struggling to remove illegal encampments from public lands. For example, DSL recently abandoned efforts to clean up an established camp in the Sandy River Delta forest after spending about $350,000 on security and hazmat crews due to safety concerns when campers threw rocks.
Perhaps the 83,000-acre Elliot State Research Forest, which is managed by DSL and has Lovell on its Board of Directors, can provide a valuable blueprint for bringing science and management together for the benefit of often opposing needs such as conservation, recreation, indigenous culture, and the Oregon economy.
