Boiler Bay Beacon
SILETZ RIVER VALLEY — Joe Steere grew up in the Oregon Coast Range and has seen many things in those woods — trees older than Napoleon Bonaparte, an elk chasing a bear, loggers zip-lining before it was fashionable — but he never encountered a politician.
If elected to the county commission, Steere intends to address that absence and put Lincoln County back on track as a contender in resource businesses such as fishing, farming and forestry.
It has long been an article of faith in some county circles that hard-hat jobs are on the way out, to be replaced by service work and marine sciences. They see retirees and tourism as the future, while traditional industries still account for roughly 20 percent of the local economy.
Steere points to a sharp decline in those sectors, citing a January 2026 report by the Economic Development Alliance of Lincoln County. According to the most recent data in that report, from 2012 to 2021, commercial fishing, agriculture and timber income fell from $324.9 million to $219.8 million — a 33 percent drop.
In the same period, timber payroll fell from $124 million to $30 million; commercial fishing from $196 million to $183 million. Agriculture, the smallest of the three, grew from $5 million to $7.1 million.
Steere, a longtime timberman and north-county rancher, argues that traditional industries have been undervalued. If elected, he said he would press the case for agribusiness and sustainable harvests.
“The demise is not inevitable,” Steere said. “I get a little angry watching something I love heading the wrong way. You just don’t stand around and hope it fixes itself.”
He wants a shift away from what he calls the constant legal and political fights that have marked Lincoln County’s relationship with the federal government, and toward finding practical benefits in newer federal policies. He points to the recent “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which streamlines permitting and sets higher timber harvest targets on federal lands, including the nearby Siuslaw National Forest.
As a former watershed council member focused on protecting salmon streams, Steere said he learned how to attract state and federal support for local programs.
“Instead of fighting them all the time we should take advantage of the feds where we can,” he said, citing potential forest stewardship agreements, contract work and pilot projects that he believes could generate significant new revenue. “I’ve run the numbers. We can grow and be environmentally smart at the same time.”
The connection between harvests and local government budgets is direct, he noted. Three timber companies rank among the top five property taxpayers in Lincoln County, with Georgia-Pacific of Toledo leading at $3.6 million for 2025-26.
Steere’s opponent in the Nov. 3 general election is Cristen Don, a former Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA fisheries scientist with a long career in marine resource management. Don’s campaign emphasizes “coastal stewardship”, support for commercial fishing, and investment in “a resilient local economy”. Public materials from her campaign focus more heavily on the marine side of the resource economy than on timber or inland agriculture.
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Joe Steere is a businessman and understands what it takes to keep a viable organization running. We don’t need anymore tax and speed people elected to office. Hopeful Lincoln County will see the benefit of adding Joe Steere and Casey Miller who understands the County better than most to the board with Curtis Landers. Lincoln County will then rise again.