The Oregon Department of State Lands has been working to find a way to keep the 82,500 acres of the Elliott State Forest publicly owned while allowing the state to send revenue to the Common School Fund. Tuesday morning, DSL Director Jim Paul updated the State Land Board members, Gov. Kate Brown, Secretary of State Dennis Richardson and Treasurer Tobias Read. He said the DSL is tackling the issue via two tracks: contracting a third party by March to develop the federal Habitat Conservation Plan and a separate third party by December to manage negotiations to take the Elliott State Forest out of Common School Fund ownership. “Achieving an HCP that will work is a prerequisite for maintaining public ownership of this forest,” Paul said.