Oregon's State Forests
Photo by Oregon Department of Forestry
The Department of Forestry (DoF) is nearing completion of a new forest management plan for all of western Oregon’s state-owned forests (640,000 acres). The current process to write a new Forest Management Plan (FMP) kicked off in early 2018. At that time, the Board of Forestry (BoF) adopted eleven guiding principles for forest planning.
Behind state forest planning is the Greatest Permanent Value Rule (OAR 629-035-0020) which states in part: greatest permanent value” means healthy, productive, and sustainable forest ecosystems that over time and across the landscape provide a full range of social, economic, and environmental benefits to the people of Oregon.
The Coast Range Association (CRA) spent a huge amount of time between 1995 and 1997 arguing with the timber industry about the Purpose Rule. Next, ODF developed a Planning Rule (OAR 629-035-0030) to guide forest planning. The Planning Rule requires a checklist of topics to be addressed during forest plan development.
The FMP mirrors the land use areas designated in the state forest Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). Here is a link to the master map of the land uses: HCP Land Use Map
To summarize: the state forest plan is based on guiding principles, goals, and strategies. All the wheels and cogs resulted in a 162-page draft Forest Management Plan. Also, an Adaptive Management Plan was written.
Finally, Implementation Plans are written for each of the seven state forest management districts. Then, annual Operation Plans are developed for each district. Operation Plans describe what will actually be done during the coming year.
All of what is described above is captured in the CRA’s State Forest Planning Poster. Here’s a link to the Planning Poster.
Since the poster is a pdf, you may print to any size you wish. We suggest printing it out as a 8.5” by 11” sheet and taping it to your refrigerator. When friends come over and see it, they might say “What’s that?” Perhaps your response will be “Oh, that’s the state’s process for managing our 640,000 acres of state-owned forests. And, it’s why we donate to the Coast Range Association because they work to protect as much of the forest as possible.”
The complicated and prolonged planning process makes public participation very difficult. The CRA has been in the state forest struggle since 1993. We are near to a management plan that potentially sets aside almost half the land-base for values other than timber. That amounts to about 300,000 acres of the greatest forestland in the world. As those forests grow, a huge amount of atmospheric carbon will be sequestered.