Oregon’s forestry department has proposed a flexible approach to managing state-owned forests west of the Cascades over the next 70 years. Staff say it will allow them to adapt as scientific understanding evolves — and as the climate changes.

But environmental groups say the department has drafted a plan that’s too vague. They would like to see more focus on saving the mature and complex forests that are critical to fighting climate change.

Members of the public can submit their input on the state’s draft forest management plan through the end of the day Saturday by emailing [email protected].

Forest management plans typically outline an agency’s high-level goals and strategies for logging, recreation and conservation. State and federal agencies refer to them as they are crafting more detailed, short-term plans that identify which forest stands will be logged, and which will be protected.

This forest management plan is meant to accompany the Western State Habitat Conservation Plan — a 70-year agreement with the federal government that ensures state logging projects comply with the Endangered Species Act.

That plan, often referred to as the HCP, outlines conservation measures the state will take to offset the environmental harms of logging. It’s awaiting federal approval, which state officials expect by the end of March.

If approved, the HCP would overhaul how the Oregon Department of Forestry pursues logging on state lands, and it would prohibit logging on about 43% of western state forests. The department has drafted its new forest management plan to take that shift into account.

Advocates want the new management plan to do more to conserve mature, complex forests on the other 57% of western state forests that aren’t protected by the HCP.

“The habitat conservation plan will allow the ODF to move forward with its timber sales in a much more predictable way, and it’s overall a conservation win,” said Grace Brahler, wildlands director for Cascadia Wildlands, a conservation nonprofit based in Eugene. “But it is not what is necessary for these species to fully recover.”

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But Oregon Department of Forestry officials say they intentionally drafted this plan in broad strokes.

“It’s meant to be durable and flexible, so that we can respond to changing conditions,” said Mike Wilson, state forests division chief for the Oregon Department of Forestry. “Really, our goal is to have something where we can practice adaptive management a little bit more fluidly.”

Adaptive management is the process of changing forest practices based on the latest studies and research, instead of following the same rules for a long stretch of time.

Wilson said the plan needs to leave room for policy changes that could come as the Oregon Board of Forestry, a governor-appointed citizen board charged with overseeing state forest practices, changes members over time.

“They are ultimately responsible for the management of the lands,” Wilson said. “They set the policy direction.”

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Michael Lang, Oregon senior policy manager for the Wild Salmon Center, a conservation nonprofit, worries the forest management plan doesn’t comply with a state law that says such plans need to include specific strategies and goals.

“The plan acknowledges that 46% of watersheds in Clatsop County are listed as impaired under the Clean Water Act, and those water systems flow out of the state forests,” Lang said. “Yet there are no goals or strategies that say, ‘This is the way we are going to improve water quality on these watersheds, not just for aquatic species and for salmon, but for people.'”

Lang added: “There’s no plan at all. That is inconsistent with the law.”

Lang fears the draft forest management plan opens the door to future policies that encourage heavy logging. He and Cascadia Wildlands’ Brahler want to see the Oregon Department of Forestry set conservation targets, like conserving a certain percentage of complex forests in areas that wouldn’t be protected by the HCP.

“We’ve seen the ODF set a goal for itself and then fail to meet that goal, and then do away with that goal,” Brahler said. “We want to see enforceable standards that are time-bound that we can actually track and hold the agency accountable to achieving.”

As an example, the department once aimed for 30-50% of northwest Oregon state forests to consist of complex, mature forest stands. A 2024 legislative report shows those forests do not meet that standard, with complex forest structures ranging between 11% and 18%.

Oregon Department of Forestry staff say the agency changed the way it measures complex forest structure in 2018, so figures dropped around then. They have since increased.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/01/29/oregon-new-forest-plan/