The Senate approves controversial nominations to the Oregon Water Management Division and the Forestry Board. • Oregon Capital Chronicle

Despite opposition, the Oregon Senate has confirmed two controversial candidates to serve on the State Forestry Board and as director of the Oregon Department of Water Resources.

Heath Curtiss and Ivan Gall were among dozens of Oregonians approved Friday for a litany of governor-appointed positions on state boards and councils, as well as state agencies. Curtiss, an attorney and former Hampton Lumber lobbyist, will serve on the Board of Forestry despite opposition from environmental groups in early May that initially caused Gov. Tina Kotek to withdraw her nomination.

In recent years, the board has become a battleground for conservation and timber industry groups vying for greater powers to protect or cut down national forests. Bob Van Dyk, former policy director of the nonprofit Wild Salmon Center, was also inexplicably removed from Kotek’s nomination list and then re-submitted this week.

Gall, a 30-year veteran of the Oregon Department of Water Resources, will lead the agency after two years as deputy director. Kotek announced Gall as her candidate in early May, after two nationwide searches over the past year failed to find her preferred candidate.

The water resources agency is facing criticism from some industrial and agricultural water users for allowing permitting backlogs, while also facing an urgent need to address remaining groundwater supplies, which have declined dramatically in many parts of the state over the past century . Gall and other agency leaders was met with criticism from legislators over their willingness to allow more water use in many areas where there is little data on groundwater availability.

“The Governor takes the nomination process seriously and believes that these appointments best serve the public interest,” Elisabeth Shepard, a spokeswoman for Kotek, wrote in an email.

The Senate considered Gall’s nomination separately from the other nominees and confirmed his nomination by a 17-10 vote, with all Republicans opposing. Appointments to the Forestry Board were approved without discussion, with only one senator, Republican Art Robinson of Cave Junction, dissenting.

New director of waterworks

At Wednesday’s hearing of the Senate Interim Committee on Rules and Executive Nominations, Sens. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, and Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, grilled Gall about what he would do to change the agency for the better in his first 100 days on the job.

Hansell asked detailed questions about ensuring agricultural water rights in his district, while Steiner wanted to know how he would regain the trust of some Oregonians who believe the agency is unwilling to accept complicated permits or enforce penalties when a water user violates their permit.

Gall said he will spend his first few months on the job talking to water users across the state and getting feedback on their needs, but he denies allegations that the agency is unwilling to deal with difficult cases or enforce regulations.

“I can say with a lot of confidence that our team really didn’t avoid some difficult issues. We have undertaken many such activities, especially in recent years, and I think we have a lot to document in this regard, he said.

No one on the committee asked Gall about the urgency of addressing dwindling groundwater supplies in parts of the state, which has been the subject of several other Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee hearings this week, as well as bipartisan calls from top water lawmakers and Kotek to obtain an accurate accounting of groundwater resources and review the state’s water permitting policy.

On Friday, all Republicans in the Senate voted against Gall.

Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, acknowledged Gall is “technically highly qualified” but said he hasn’t proven he can do the job Oregon needs him to do.

“We need someone to change the direction of this agency,” Findley said.

Steiner, who voted to confirm Gall, said she expected lawmakers to watch him closely and that he would have to change agencies or lose his job. The agency said it needed stability in the form of a permanent director after 18 months without one.

“We have to give him a chance and we have to give this agency a chance to get back on its feet and change direction,” Steiner said.

New members of the Forestry Board

Curtiss, who is general counsel for Portland-based Hampton Lumber, confirmed at Wednesday’s hearing that despite some reports to the contrary, he will not work to repeal the landmark state conservation plan adopted by the state forestry board earlier this year. The Western Forest Habitat Conservation Plan limits logging in Oregon’s western state forests over the next 70 years to protect endangered species. Curtiss and Hampton were vocal opponents of the plan throughout its development and implementation.

“I have no interest in revisiting this issue,” he told the committee. “The decision has been made to continue. At this point I am mainly interested in realizing the benefits of the HCP (Habitat Conservation Plan) under the approved conditions as quickly as possible without compromising them.”

The seven-member board is charged with overseeing the Oregon Department of Forestry, including setting regulations for plans requiring timber harvesting and habitat protection in national forests. Curtiss will replace outgoing forestry board member Karla Chambers, who also serves on the Hampton Lumber board. Under state law, three board members can have financial ties to the timber industry.

A coalition of eight conservation groups he wrote to Kotek in early May, insisting she would not nominate Curtiss.

“Mr. Curtiss was a leading opponent of the Western Oregon State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan, the state’s key strategy to avoid violating the National Forests Endangered Species Act, and the plan he was working to complete,” they wrote.

But conservationists will get a counterweight in the form of the Wild Salmon Center’s Van Dyk, whose name was also confirmed to the forestry board on Friday after he was removed from Kotek’s initial list of nominees without explanation. He will serve in this capacity for the remaining year of board member Chandra Ferrari’s term. Ferrari is an environmental lawyer and former administrator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and is currently one of Kotek’s natural resources advisors.

Van Dyk also sought to dispel conflicts of interest during the hearing.

“I want to note that I see a clear difference between my previous work as an attorney and my work as a board member,” he told the committee on Wednesday. “The board’s work requires a willingness to find the public interest by listening to and considering a wide range of views. I will try to cooperate with all parties who want to shape the business before the Forestry Board.”

Associate Editor Julia Shumway contributed reporting.