A proposal from the Coquille Indian Tribe approved by the Coos County Board of Commissioners could — in a few years —  help plug the $6 million hole in Coos County’s budget.

The proposal asks for management of the about 59,000 acres of federal Coos Bay Wagon Road forests located within the county be turned over to the tribe.  The federal government would retain ownership. Revenue from timber harvests off those lands would be split evenly between the county and the tribe.

Tribal attorney Brett Kenney declined to estimate a revenue amount, saying a change in forest management practices by the Bureau of Land Management’s Western Oregon Plan Revision, set to be final at the end of this year, could make a difference in the amount of logging possible in the lands.

Chairman John Griffith wasn’t so tight-lipped. He said it’s possible that the county’s portion could amount to $4 million to $6 million annually.

This isn’t a quick fix, though.

Federal legislation is needed to authorize the proposal, called the Coos Bay Wagon Road Cooperative Land Management Area. Management of the lands is now handled by the BLM.

“The path to security on this issue is not to rush,” Kenney said at the board’s meeting Wednesday.

A draft of legislation is being prepared by the tribe, but a congressional sponsor hasn’t been found yet. Kenney said the tribe still is hoping to have the legislation introduced during this session.

Commissioner Nikki Whitty pointed out it still could take a few years before the proposal becomes reality.

Management practices still would be subject to The Endangered Species Act and Northwest Forest Plan and be reviewed every 10 years, Kenney said.

He added the tribe is ready to comply with these standards, the same practices it uses in managing the Coquille Forest, a 5,410-acre forest located in Coos County.

“We think we are uniquely qualified to do this,” Kenney said, adding the tribe is also looking to stimulate the local economy. “We do not want to be in competition with local business. We want to be a facilitator of local business.”

Management of the Coquille Forest was transferred over to the tribe in 1998 in an effort to help the tribe, officially restored in 1989, become self-sufficient. Endangered Species Act restrictions took more than half of forest land out of production to serve as reserve habitat, Kenney said, leaving the tribe in search of other ways to become self-sufficient.

When in-lieu timber payments to the county ended, the Coquille Tribal Council decided to try to find a solution that could help the county, too, Kenney said. This proposal was the result.

 “Federal law currently limits the County’s receipts from these lands to in lieu of tax payments, rather than direct payments from timber harvests,” a Coquille Indian Tribe press release said. “All excess amounts are sent out of the State to the U.S. Treasury Department and deposited into the Treasury General Fund  This proposal brings the harvest back to local sawmills, preserves family wage jobs, and substantially increases revenue to local governments.”

All management cost of the cooperative land management area would be paid for out of the tribe’s share of revenue. The proposal states the county’s share would be free of any restrictions and applied directly into the general fund.

“We need to do something fast... with the budget tanking and the county can’t raise property taxes,” Griffith said. “It doesn’t pay to have it the way it is.”