SALEM (AP) — Gov. Ted Kulongoski has nominated the founding president of the World Forestry Center in Portland to lead the Oregon Board of Forestry.

John Blackwell is a former state forester and former chairman of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission. He is viewed as a moderate in a state with strong and split views on logging.

“I think the Board of Forestry can be brought together over time,” Blackwell said.

The board faces hard questions about how much logging to permit in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests, and it has been operating short-handed.

Kulongoski also nominated Steve Wilson, secretary-treasurer of the major woodworkers union in the Northwest.

He nominated Jennifer Phillippi, business manager of Rough and Ready Lumber in Cave Junction, for a second term.

The nominations are subject to approval by the state Senate.

Conservation groups have pressed for a stronger environmental voice on the board. They say it is dominated by the timber industry.

When Kulongoski nominated an environmentalist, former U.S. Rep. Les AuCoin, there was a bitter split in the Legislature.

Blackwell is more moderate and built alliances with groups on all sides of forestry issues while at the World Forestry Center.

Kulongoski has urged the board to take a leadership role in pushing for sustainable forest management in Oregon and has pressed members to deal with the troubled strategy for managing state forests in northwest Oregon.

The board adopted the strategy in 2001, but it has fallen short of logging targets that coastal counties were expecting to generate millions of dollars in new revenue.

The counties now want the strategy revised to increase logging, while environmental groups say that would sacrifice vital fish and wildlife habitat.

Spokeswoman Jillian Schoene said Friday that Kulongoski hopes the appointments will create a balanced board that represents the diverse interests in Oregon forests.

As chairman of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Commission, Blackwell was widely recognized for steering state parks through difficult budget times with passage of a ballot measure allowing lottery money to be dedicated to parks.

He said he admires what he called a kinder, gentler forestry practiced in Europe, which manages forests in concert with recreational activities as well as the needs of local economies.