Skip to content
ProPublica Donate
ProPublica Donate
Environment

The Cutting

Investigating Industrial Logging in Oregon

The timber industry helped build Oregon, but now, the state has prioritized wealthy corporations over the economy and environment.

Impact of Our Reporting
Caret

The Cutting

The Oregon Timber Industry Won Huge Tax Cuts in the 1990s. Now It May Get Another Break Thanks to a Top Lawmaker.

As the cost of fighting wildfires increases, state Sen. Elizabeth Steiner has proposed a bill — developed in consultation with the logging industry — that would shift millions in expenses away from the biggest landowners and onto taxpayers.

The Cutting

Tax-Funded Forest Institute in Oregon Misled Public, May Have Broken State Law, Audit Finds

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.

Local Reporting Network

The Cutting

Oregon House Moves to Curb Forest Institute’s Power and Budget

After our 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.

Local Reporting Network

The Cutting

“We Have Counties in Deep Trouble”: Oregon Lawmakers Seek to Reverse Timber Tax Cuts That Cost Communities Billions

For decades, corporate timber benefited from tax cuts that devastated local budgets. Lawmakers want change and have filed dozens of bills, making this one of Oregon’s most consequential sessions for forest policy.

Local Reporting Network

The Cutting

Oregon Governor Calls for Audit After Our Reporting on State Institute That Lobbied for Timber Industry

The Oregon Forest Resources Institute worked to undercut academic research and acted as a lobbying and public relations arm for the timber industry.

Local Reporting Network

An Oregon Bill to Cut Millions in Timber Taxes Is Dead, Despite Backing by the Industry, the Governor and a Top Lawmaker

ProPublica Wins Gold and Bronze Barlett & Steele Award

ProPublica Reporting Projects Recognized for Outstanding Environmental Reporting

Oregon Lawmakers Set Out to Increase the Timber Industry’s Tax Bill. Instead, They Cut It Again.

A Timber Lobbyist Called Our Investigation “Completely Bogus.” We Have the Receipts to Show It’s Not.

Oregon’s Logging Industry Says It Can’t Afford New Taxes. But Prices Have Never Been Higher and Profits Are Soaring.

Timber Tax Cuts Cost Oregon Towns Billions. Then Polluted Water Drove Up the Price.

Despite What the Logging Industry Says, Cutting Down Trees Isn’t Stopping Catastrophic Wildfires

What Happened When a Public Institute Became a De Facto Lobbying Arm of the Timber Industry

Big Money Bought the Forests. Small Logging Communities Are Paying the Price.

How We Analyzed Data From Oregon’s Timber Industry

Help Us Understand Logging and Timber Practices Across Oregon