Take Action

Your Voice is Needed at the June 7th Board of Forestry Meeting!

The fate of more than 630,000 acres of Oregon state forest is currently being decided through a habitat conservation plan (HCP) for endangered species.

Oregon Board of Forestry will vote before the end of the year on a HCP. The HCP is designed to protect critical habitat for fish and wildlife for over 630,000 acres of state forestland across western Oregon. Currently, the wood products industry is attempting to sidetrack the planning process. As expected, several members of the Board of Forestry side with the industry over the public’s interest. Already, in response to industry pressure, the Oregon Department of Forestry is revisiting timber growth and harvest modelling to check the accuracy of the five options in the HCP.
The Department of Forestry has spent millions of dollars and years of work to develop the HCP. The Board of Forestry needs to hear Oregonians support the HCP. Here’s how to let the BOF hear your voice.

Oregon Board of Forestry Meeting, June 7th 2023
Five Pines Resort, Sisters, Oregon

The exact meeting location and agenda will be announced by May 26th on the OFD website, here.

There are 3 ways to comment to the Board of Forestry:

Attend the Board of Forestry meeting in person. Public comments occur first
thing at 8:00am in Sisters, OR

Comment via a Zoom link. You simply sign up to comment by emailing
hilary.olivos-rood@odf.oregon.gov . Inform Hilary you wish to comment during the public comment period at the beginning of the meeting. Hilary will send you a Zoom link the day before the meeting (June 6th).

Make a written comment by using the Board of Forestry’s webpage comment portal here. We have provided a sample message below if you need a little help getting started:

Subject line: Please support the Western State Forests HCP

Dear Chair Kelly and board members,

I am writing to urge you to support a State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan Alternative 3.
Alternative 3 would support better habitat protections while providing timber, jobs and shared revenue to state forest counties.

HCP Alternative 3 establishes much needed stream and forest conservation areas in the state forests of western Oregon. Most importantly, Option 3 establishes conservation protections for logging on steep slopes and addresses the impacts of logging roads. Option 3’s Habitat Conservation Areas and Riparian Conservation Areas for threatened and endangered species also support increased carbon sequestration and will support the Climate Change and Forest Carbon Plan (CCCP) adopted by the Board of Forestry in 2021. At the same time, Alternative 3 would produce more timber, more jobs and more revenue than taking no action (see Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Table 3.12-14).

Thank you for all your work developing the Habitat Conservation Plan. Please stay the course and complete the process as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Your name
Your city or town