We may learn soon how firmly Gov. John Kitzhaber believes the dire things he’s said about rural Western Oregon. More than a year ago, Kitzhaber gave a blunt, and accurate, assessment of the downward path the region has taken in the two decades since timber harvests on federal lands dropped precipitously. Speaking to the Oregon Board of Forestry, the governor warned about the “social disintegration” occurring in rural counties. More recently, he told the same board that federal management of timberlands has failed Oregon. Logging on federal lands has been so curtailed that neither forests nor rural counties are healthy. …