Contact the Oregon Board of Forestry and Urge Them to Protect the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forest Watersheds

January 20, 2010

Headwaters of the Kilchis River in the Tillamook State Forest. This land would be profoundly affected by the Board of Forestry's recent decisions to increase timber harvest in Oregon State Forests. Photo by C. Frissell, PRC

The Oregon Board of Forestry is now collecting public comments on a rule change which would allow increased timber harvest on the nearly half million acres of the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests that lie between Portland and the Oregon coast.  PRC, the Wild Salmon Center and a host of other environmental champions believe if the Board’s harvest ramp-up occurs, residents and visitors to the area will see less mature forests, more clearcuts and other drastic changes to the landscape affecting endangered species already imperiled from decades of poor management.

You may submit written comments, or deliver them yourself at public hearings in Salem and Seaside to let your voice be heard.

Background:

Photo courtesy of Bob Van Dyk: Little North Fork Wilson River

The Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests have been managed for decades for two purposes: to rehabilitate the area from the utter devastation caused by misguided clear-cutting after the Tillamook Burn, and also to generate revenue for local communities through managed timber harvest. As a result of an historical promise by the state, timber revenues are relied upon for money for schools and other community services. Unfortunately for the salmon and other native aquatic species, even current levels of harvest are unsustainable, don’t comply with the current management plan, and threaten the health of globally significant salmon streams.

The Oregon Board of Forestry is in charge of managing these state forests for the “greatest permanent value” to all Oregonians, but its decision last June to increase timber production serves only the short-term interests of timber companies, and would not provide long term solutions to local government funding shortfalls

The Board proposes to increase timber harvest levels and reduce the amount of forest that must be in older forest condition at any given time. The Board has proposed to open 70% of these forests to intensive harvest, leaving just 30% to be managed for restoration (the current levels are 50-50). This would affect 63,000 acres of land, drastically reducing area available to residents of Oregon and visitors alike for fishing, hunting and other recreational activities visitors to the area currently enjoy.

What’s New

In June 2009, anglers, boaters, hunters, and other citizens opposed to this decision gathered outside the Board meeting to oppose increased harvest on Tillamook and Clatsop.  As a result, the Board created an advisory panel populated with representatives of all sides of the argument to help re-define the greatest permanent value rule, an Oregon state law intended for state forests to be managed for broad benefits; none being greater than the next. The decision to make timber harvest the primary use of the land violates this state law.

Other results of the public outcry, were :  1) a Petition from local groups to reconsider the decision and; 2)  a letter from John Kitzhaber, former Oregon Governor and current gubernatorial candidate; and 3) the initiation of a review by the state’s Independent Interdisciplinary Science Team, which PRC strongly supports.

The Board has also decided to open a public comment period, ending January 29th. The public is urged to write comments and attend public hearings in Salem on January 26th and Seaside on January 28th. More information at OBF website.

How To Send A Letter 

Below is a sample letter to the Board. You can cut and paste into a letter to mail, fax or email, and you’re encouraged to add personal viewpoints, stories or photos that illustrate how degraded watersheds on these state forests would affect you and your life.

Public Hearings:

The Salem hearing January 26th will be held at the ODF headquarters at 2600 State Street in the Tillamook room. The Seaside hearing January 28th will be at City Hall, 989 Broadway in the council chambers. Both meetings are from 5:30-9:00 p.m.

Comments should be sent to Jeff Foreman:

2600 State Street., Salem, OR 97310
jforeman@odf.state.or.us
fax: (503)945-7376

More information is available at www.thetillamook.net or http://oregon.sierraclub.org

Sample Letter to the Oregon Board of Forestry

Dear Members of the Board of Forestry:

On behalf of the fish and other aquatic species with habitat on the Tillamook and Clatsop State forests, I oppose the proposed changes to the Northwest Oregon State Forest Management Plan (Plan).  I request that you retain existing goals for both complex forest structure and references to a habitat conservation plan.

•     Proposed Clearcutting Limits are too weak and Older Forest targets too low to maintain aquatic ecosystem health

The prevalence of older forest is closely linked to the operation of watershed functions and processes to form and maintain the habitats required to sustain and recover native aquatic species.

•     Increased Risks to Aquatic Species from Proposed Change are Unacceptable

The Oregon Departments of Forestry and Fish and Wildlife have jointly found that the proposed increases in clear cutting and decreased protections that resulting from abandonment of a habitat conservation planning approach will have significant and negative effects on habitat for aquatic species of concern such as Coho salmon and steelhead.

•     Reject Other Proposed Changes

1. The current goal requiring state forest management to “contribute to maintenance and restoration of biodiversity” and associated language should not be weakened.
2. References to “consultation with appropriate other federal or state agencies” when approving plan changes should be retained.
3. The State should continue to pursue a federally sufficient habitat conservation plan for state forests under the Endangered Species Act. A “species of concern plan” that is wholly within the discretion of the State Forester is unacceptable.

The Board is heading down a path that abandons the goal of creating a balanced framework for state forest management. The proposed changes put the state lands on a trajectory toward a narrowly focused industrial forest model that does not meet the needs of fisheries, wildlife, recreational and other interests. The mandate for “greatest permanent value,” on forests that are within striking distance of metropolitan Portland is a mandate to integrate diverse public values and the long-term best interest of all Oregonians into your planning.  This proposal is an abject failure to do so and should be rejected.

Respectfully,

YOUR NAME HERE