Commissioners hopeful about state funding for juniper removal after bill amendment and subcommittee support
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Summary
Commissioners and staff noted House/Senate bill 3135 (juniper funding) would allocate roughly $585,000 to Deschutes County if funded; county officials said the bill moved from an earlier file and that a key subcommittee vice chair could help secure funding.
Deschutes County commissioners discussed the juniper-removal funding bill (file 3135) on May 2 and said the county could receive roughly $585,000 from a proposed fund that covers seven counties.
Commissioner Dara described spending "hundreds of hours" on the issue and said the bill could provide "585,000 for Deschutes County alone." She said the funding would help property owners needing assistance with juniper removal and pest/allergen issues.
Doug Riggs said the funding originated in earlier bill language (3078) before being moved to 3135 and that "the delegation worked closely on that. We updated the language in the original bill, so it's a dash-1 amendment." He noted that Emerson Levy, vice chair of the subcommittee on natural resources and Ways and Means, is in a position to help secure funding, and he expressed optimism that the natural-resources elements would be funded.
County staff said commissioners previously took a support position and that no further immediate action was required, but they will continue to monitor the bill's progress in Ways and Means.