The 82,500-acre Elliott State Forest in southwestern Oregon may be staying in public hands after all.
Treasurer Tobias Read — who cast a crucial vote last month to proceed with the sale — announced Tuesday that he sees a "path forward" for keeping the forest in public hands.
Read said in an interview that it is too early to proclaim certainty that the forest would remain public, but he added, "I would not be making this statement if I did not think that I had a reasonable degree of confidence that this is achievable."