State auditors found that an agency intended to educate the public about forestry presented biased information favoring the timber industry and possibly violated state law. The audit was prompted by our investigation last year into the agency.
After a ProPublica investigation found that a tax-funded institute acted as a lobbying arm for the timber industry, Oregon lawmakers passed a bill that would significantly cut the institute's funding and redirect the money to climate science.
Lobbyists for the timber industry have repeatedly attacked our investigation, which was based on extensive interviews and a review of thousands of documents. Here’s the evidence to back up the investigation’s major findings.
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute worked to undercut academic research and acted as a lobbying and public relations arm for the timber industry. Now, the governor has asked for an audit.
Internal emails show a tax-funded agency created to educate people about forestry has acted as a public-relations agency and lobbying arm for Oregon’s timber industry, in some cases skirting legal constraints that forbid it from doing so.
