Document text
Institute board starts dissolution Some hope to salvage efforts By Paul Fattig ASHLAND � The Rogue Institute for Ecology and Economy is calling it quits permanently. The board for the nonprofit institute, which announced in July that it was temporarily closing its doors because of a financial crunch, began the long process of dissolving it Friday. Final articles of dissolution have been sent to the secretary of state�s office. "It was just too big of a financial hole to get out of," said board member Alan Reder of Rogue River. "It�s really a shame there was no other reasonable course of action for us." A letter will soon be sent to creditors informing them of the board�s decision, followed by a 120-day period allowing creditors to respond, he said. "We will be soliciting any claims we don�t know about," he added. "We will also be liquidating assets." The institute, which is closed and in "shadow form only," will cease to exist at all in about five months, he predicted. "One of the reasons we decided to do the dissolution is to hopefully turn programs like �Jobs in the Woods� over to other people," said board co-president Chris Bratt, an Applegate Valley resident. Had the institute filed bankruptcy, it would not have had that option, he said. The program trained displaced timber workers. Formed in 1989, the Ashland-based institute aimed to protect both the environment and the economy. Using government grants, donations and volunteer efforts, the institute focused on forest restoration and environmentally friendly harvest practices. It was one of the first in the nation to create a sustainable forestry certification program. After announcing a "severe cash flow crisis" early in the summer, the institute, which has an annual budget of nearly $1 million, laid off about 20 workers. At that point, board members indicated they hoped to reopen the institute. But an assessment of the group�s financial status by a volunteer accountant indicated it was too far into the red to salvage, board members said. However, they would not disclose the debt amount. "The assets haven�t been weighed against it (debt)," Bratt said. "We�ll see how it all balances out." The board sent an advance copy of its dissolution plans to the state attorney general�s office for preapproval last month. "We responded that we didn�t object, and that they may proceed," said Victoria Cox, spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice. However, that doesn�t close the legal door on any future investigation, she said. There is no current investigation of the institute by the department at this time, she added. The board wants the attorney general�s office to conduct an investigation, Reder said. "It sounds incredible, but we still don�t know why this happened," he said. "We know some funds were misspent but that these were minor amounts relative to the deficit. If anything happened, it wasn�t on a big scale." An official investigation would clear the air, he observed. Meanwhile, the board hopes to find a group that will take over its mission, he said. "I don�t think anyone was instituting any solutions the way we were," he said. "We hope someone will step in to take over." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.