Courtesy photo Kit foxes are currently listed as a threatened species in the state of Oregon.

Forget the specialty license plates. Oregon’s state legislature passed a bill that offers permanent, dedicated funding for conservation efforts for imperiled wildlife in the state.

The bill, which raises the state’s transient lodging tax from 1.5% to 2.75%, was sponsored by Reps. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton and Mark Owens, R-Crane. It enjoyed broad public and bipartisan support. Gov. Tina Kotek is expected to sign the bill in the coming weeks.

That’s right. A bipartisan tax increase for conservation. What year are we in?

Over the past decade, the state legislature has considered various proposals to create funding for Oregon’s nongame species.

HB 4134 is special

The bill is supported by a coalition of diverse, and oftentimes adversarial, groups ranging from Oregon Wild to the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, to say nothing of Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate.

Public testimony was also overwhelmingly supportive of the legislation.

The new law will raise the state’s lodging tax from 1.5% to 2.75%, which supporters call a modest increase in a state tax that’ll amount to a substantial chunk of money: an estimated $37 million annually.

Most of that money will go toward Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife efforts to conserve habitat for species ranging from puffins to bats to frogs.

How it works

Oregon’s lodging tax is paid largely by out-of-state visitors on things like hotel rooms, resorts, RV and camping reservations. These fees fund Travel Oregon, the state’s tourism agency.

Under the new law, which will go into effect next year, the lion’s share of money generated from the 1.25% tax increase will be allocated to habitat conservation through the state’s Wildlife Action Plan.

Roughly a quarter of the revenue will be distributed across programs aimed at invasive species, poaching, wildfire risk reduction, conservation workforce programs, habitat connectivity and a fund that pays ranchers for livestock losses related to wolf depredation.

Danielle Moser, wildlife program manager at Oregon Wild, said these inclusions helped pull in Republican support.

“Having a big coalition of groups like Oregon Wild and the Oregon Hunters Association and Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and all these different sportsmen groups is really what helped us move the ball forward for being more appealing to Republicans,” Moser told Columbia Insight. “Because it was a tax bill, we wanted to make sure it was bipartisan in nature.”

Against it

Opponents of the bill argued that raising the tax would discourage tourism. Travel Portland opposed the bill, as did numerous local chambers of commerce and the Oregon Restaurant & Lodging Association.

But supporters pointed out that tourists often travel to Oregon to bask in the state’s unique natural resources.

“Look no further than a Travel Oregon ad,” said Moser. “A majority of their ads are promoting nature and wildlife. Their own surveys have indicated that the number one reason visitors come here is for scenic natural beauty.”

Even with the 1.25% increase, Oregon’s lodging tax will be one of the lowest in the country.

Once the bill is signed into law, Oregon will have the largest tax dedicated to conservation in the country. Other states are watching.

“Oregon could become a national model,” said Moser.