Board approves amendment to reciprocal road-use agreement with BLM

The Josephine County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 to approve Amendment 15 to the county's reciprocal right-of-way agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, adding specified BLM roads to the list the county may use for hauling and maintenance.

The amendment was presented by Forestry Director Streeter, who described the change as routine and said the county periodically amends the agreement as it identifies additional BLM roads it needs to use. Streeter said the amendment would permit the county and its purchasers to haul commercially on those BLM roads under the reciprocal terms.

Commissioners and Streeter discussed how fees and maintenance are handled under the agreement. Streeter explained there is no flat fee charged to the county for adding roads, but purchasers who haul commercially generally pay maintenance fees or perform maintenance themselves; in some cases BLM defers maintenance to the purchaser. Streeter said deferred maintenance on some BLM roads has increased and that the fees charged do not always cover the higher costs of bringing those roads up to a safe standard.

Commissioner Smith and others noted that when purchasers must perform deferred maintenance, they tend to reduce the appraised stumpage value to cover those costs, which in effect shifts expense back to the county. After brief discussion the board approved the amendment; the roll call was recorded as unanimous.

The county director said annual meetings with BLM are required under the reciprocal agreement and that ongoing oversight of how maintenance fees are spent remains a concern for county forestry operations.