Merkley: Timber firms hired too many foreigners

Portland Business Journal:

U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley wants timber companies that used federal stimulus funds to hire foreign-born workers to fill more jobs with Oregon residents.

Merkley’s office said Thursday that more than 40 percent of forest thinning and wildfire prevention work went to firms that used foreign workers. Several Central Oregon counties have unemployment rates that exceed 10 percent, compared to the national 8 percent level.

Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, conceded that even though he sought provisions to create…

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