The Oregon Department of Forestry recently presented a timber-centered vision for the new Forest Management Plan on the Tillamook & Clatsop state forests.
Key proposals included:
- Devoting 70% of the forest to industrial clear cutting and pesticide spraying to dramatically increase harvest.
- Clear cutting most of the new High Value Conservation Areas that are currently protected for older forest.
- A formal policy to prioritize cutting of oldest trees in the “production zone” so species cannot recover.
- Using the extra revenue to increase the ODF budget by 30%.
- Redefining conservation areas to include clearcuts.
No, we are not making this up!
ODF’s plan is very similar to the 70-30 proposal pushed by Hampton Affiliates, a private firm that wants the logs for their mills.
Maps based on ODF data provide images of the current plan and ODF’s devastating proposal. Red areas are removed from conservation protection and opened to clearcutting:
Fortunately, a conservation-minded member of the Board blocked this initial proposal, but ODF leadership have clearly made a power move to expand their budget as the Governor changes. The Department was directed to seek alternative revenues for their state forest program, but are clearly focused only on increasing harvest levels dramatically.