SALEM - Gov. Ted Kulongoski appointed former Congressman Les AuCoin to the Oregon Board of Forestry on Tuesday, saying he will bring needed "balance" to the panel that manages state forests.

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli vowed to oppose the appointment, though.

The John Day Republican said Kulongoski is pandering to "environmental radicals" by appointing the former lawmaker.

However, the Democratic-controlled Senate is expected to easily confirm AuCoin to replace Eastern Oregon rancher and timberland owner Chris Heffernan, whose term expires in April.

Kulongoski said AuCoin will help "achieve balance in forest management as we shore up and sustain our forest economy while addressing other important issues such as the Endangered Species Act, water quality and roadless wilderness areas."

Ferrioli said AuCoin was a vocal backer of a ballot measure last fall to restrict logging in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests and will pursue a similar agenda as a forestry board member.

"Les AuCoin's idea was to lock up half of those forests, even though people in those areas really need the jobs," the Senate GOP leader said.

Senate Majority Leader Kate Brown, D-Portland, said AuCoin will bring a balancing conservation voice to a panel that's sometimes criticized as favoring the timber industry.

"The majority of the forestry board members have connections to the timber industry," Brown said. "We think it's appropriate that there be folks on the board who represent the other side of Oregon."

AuCoin, for his part, said he gave "symbolic support" to the ballot measure to restrict logging in the two north coasts state forests to make a point.

"That is that other values in the Tillamook should be, I felt, taken into account - recreation and wildlife foremost among them," AuCoin said in an interview Tuesday night.

At the same time, the former Democratic congressman said he is "going in not as an advocate" as he prepares to join the forestry panel.

"I am not anyone's boy," he said. "The timber industry may regret it very much, but so may environmentalists, for all I know."

In fact, AuCoin has been on both sides of Northwest forest debates over the years.

He advocated federal logging while in Congress from 1975 to 1993 and lobbied for the timber industry after leaving Congress. But since returning to Oregon, he has argued for forest protection.

Kulongoski, meanwhile, said there's a need for more balance on the forestry panel "so that it presents the diversity of views throughout Oregon on forestry policy."

"The appointment of Les AuCoin, a person who possesses vast experience on both the business and environmental sides of forestry, and whose intellectualism is widely recognized, will be important to the Board of Forestry's future," the governor said.