Oregon Public Broadcasting

More than $300 million from the stimulus plan will go to the Department of Interior.

Democratic Senator Ron Wyden and others have said the money will create Oregon jobs in forest thinning and wildfire prevention.

Central Oregon correspondent Ethan Lindsey reports.

The Bureau of Land Management, arguably, is one of the most vital federal agencies in Oregon.

It manages 2 million acres of the land in western Oregon, and is one of the largest landowners east of the Cascades.

Of the stimulus money, $125 million will go to forest thinning and health projects, and $180 million is headed to road construction.

In a call with reporters, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said he will try to direct some of that money to green projects.

Ken Salazar: “For the last eight years, there’s been one energy plan for America, and that’s been drill our way to energy independence. And the consequence of that is that the renewable energies, both on-shore and off-shore, really have not received the kind of attention they should have received.”

Hood River Republican Greg Walden says he will look to get Oregon an “unfair share” of the Interior stimulus money because of Oregon’s high percentage of federal lands.