July Update

The vast majority of us Oregonians get our drinking water from forested watersheds. Join me to stay aware of what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other public agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect our own forest watersheds and others across Oregon. If you find this helpful, share it with a friend!

Action Alert: The regular reader of the Your Forest Watershed newsletter knows that Oregon State Forests are intensively logged for cash to fund county services, to fund the Oregon Department of Forestry wildfire response on private & state land, and to run ODF’s state forest division. You also know that these state forests are failing to produce clear, clean, cold water for humans and fish. The proposed state forest habitat conservation plan is a compromise to balance timber production with protecting struggling bird, mammal, and fish populations. The plan is under attack, but the Governor will support a strong plan if she hears from us. Please lend your voice here; it is quick and easy: https://oregonwild.org/oregon-state-forests-need-your-voice 

Private Forest Accord: Have you seen the ads promoting the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System (FERNS)? Sign up today https://yourforestwatershed.org/getting-started-with-ferns ! What might you learn by signing up for notifications? You can be alerted to pesticide applications and clearcuts near you. The private forest habitat conservation plan for salmon and other fish (apologies to the “other fish”), covering 10 million acres of private forest in Oregon, is moving forward, but like with all things water, it is slow going to implement an agreement to protect the basics: soil, shade, and stream-side trees. Part of the private forest accord is funding for small forestland owners to improve fish passage or repair failing roads; if you are or know a small forestland owner that could benefit, reply to this email and we’ll get it started!

State Forests: Do you want to go hiking or biking in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests but don’t know how to get started? If you missed the July 19 Oregon Wild webcast on hiking the State Forests of Western Oregon with Kira Taylor (which was the 50th anniversary of establishing the Tillamook), you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ORWild. Kira covered the basics of where to go, what to bring, what plants to spot, and how to do it all safely, so that you can hike with confidence. Ready to hike but don’t want to go alone? Join us for a guided hike September 15th. Sign up for the hike at https://oregonwild.org/events/tillamook-state-forest-hike. 

Legislature: Part of Governor Kotek’s agenda when campaigning was to improve state agency performance; now that we organized to pass the natural climate solutions bill, it is time to work with agencies to implement the law and distribute funds fairly and effectively. Stay tuned if you have a carbon sequestration project that you want funded! Remember the bill to help purchase drinking watersheds? It passed! There’s only $4 million for purchases, but I think we can find other places to braid money together if you have a project. Do you have a forest or water issue that you really want legislators to see in person? I’m starting to plan for legislator tours, because there’s nothing like seeing a problem or a solution in person to make change. Drop me a note!

Other agencies: The Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries is a pretty low-profile agency, unless you have a landslide or rock quarry (or live near one!). Their staff is heavy on geologists and they produce an amazing LiDAR-based map of Oregon. Using the ‘bare earth hilllshade’ layer on their map viewer, you can see old landslides, ancient homesites, abandoned roads and skid trails, meander scars from rivers, even mines! Check it out and thank a geologist (turn off the “project area” layer and turn on the “bare earth hillshade” layer): https://gis.dogami.oregon.gov/maps/lidarviewer/ 

June Update

The vast majority of us Oregonians get our drinking water from forested watersheds. Join me to stay aware of what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other public agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect our own forest watersheds and others across Oregon. If you find this helpful, share it with a friend!

Action Alert: Forests managed for us by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service are home to mature forests and old trees that filter and cold drinking water, shelter fish streams from the sun, and store carbon that would otherwise trap heat in our air. President Biden directed the agencies to draft rules protecting mature and old forests from commercial logging. Over 132,000 comments have been submitted so far, and there’s still time to share your perspective on protecting old growth for water. For background: https://www.oregonwild.org/about/blog/nows-time-protect-mature-and-old-growth-forests Direct link to comment: https://oregonwild.org/president-biden-protect-our-forests-and-climate 

Private Forest Accord: If you have not signed up for the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System (FERNS), do it today https://yourforestwatershed.org/getting-started-with-ferns ! What might you learn by signing up for notifications? You can be alerted to pesticide applications and clearcuts near you. To see the most recent applications and logging in the Coast Range and Cascades, check out this map from our friends at the Coast Range Association: https://clausa.app.carto.com/map/11102e37-6bd6-4fa5-b4d3-789cbff53241?fbclid=IwAR08NSzFXltPGV0Cl7UNh52ORvxPNic7eAA-sY7IG5z8P7yyADjDfRp0s7k. You can learn more and read their newsletters at coastrange.org. 

State Forests: Do you want to go hiking or biking in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests but don’t know where to get started? Tune in Wednesday July 19th for an Oregon Wild webcast on hiking the State Forests of Western Oregon! We’ll cover the basics of where to go, what to bring, and how to do it all safely, so that you can hike with confidence, and join us for a guided hike September 15th. More details on the webcast and hike at OregonWild.org. 

Legislature: The record-long walkout by Senate Republicans is over and the Legislature is racing to vote on bills that moved through committees and had funding approved. What a roller coaster! To be efficient, House and Senate leadership has combined dozens of related bills into packages. Both the climate resilience package (including the natural climate solutions bill, SB 530) and the water security package (including funding for watershed protection/purchase) passed the House June 21 and will likely be voted upon June 23 in the Senate. Whew! Because planning for the next session begins as soon as the session ends, what law, rule, or fund would you like to see change next year?

Other agencies: This month, we’re highlighting the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, one of the federally recognized tribes whose ancestral and treaty lands overlap with Oregon. Grand Ronde manages about 11,000 acres of forest in the Coast Range for timber production, cultural values for tribal members like hunting, and clean water. The forest land is on an eighty-year rotation and has limited herbicides applied, which means that the land has time to be a forest. Grand Ronde is currently working with Congress to reopen the consent decree that limited their off-reservation hunting and fishing on ancestral land.

May Update

Topline Summary: Roughly 3.2 million Oregonians get their drinking water from forested watersheds. Let’s stay aware of what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other public agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect our own forest watersheds and others across Oregon.

Action Alert: The Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests are among the best places in the world to grow a forest, and the rivers that flow out of these special places are the best water for us and for fish. The Board of Forestry is still considering whether to adopt, strengthen, or weaken the habitat conservation plan that will protect streams and fish from the intensive industrial logging of state forests. Tell the Governor and her Board of Forestry that you support the State Forest HCP.

Private Forest Accord: If you have not signed up for the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System (FERNS), do it today https://yourforestwatershed.org/getting-started-with-ferns ! I learned recently that unattended burn piles and slash burns are a primary source of wildfires. Since we’re in the “dry but not yet too dry” period of the year, you are probably seeing lots of unattended burn piles; if you see one escape, call 911, and then contact your local Department of Forestry stewardship forester https://www.oregon.gov/odf/working/Pages/findaforester.aspx or reach out to me (ck@oregonwild.org).

State Forests: Want to go hiking or biking in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests but don’t know where to get started? Stay tuned for an Oregon Wild webcast on hiking the State Forests of Western Oregon! We’ll cover the basics of where to go, what to bring, and how to do it all safely, so that you can hike with confidence (there may be a guided hike opportunity, too). Speaking of hiking and biking, the Labor Day 2020 fires scorched the Santiam State Forest and the popular Shellburg Falls recreation area remains closed but the Department of Forestry and the Salem Area Trail Alliance continue to rebuild trails and bridges. State Forest Division Chief Mike Wilson estimates it will be open by fall of 2023 or spring of 2024.

Legislature: There is good news and bad news in the State Capitol. The state revenue forecast this month is much stronger than expected, so there will be more money for water and forest protection, education, and other priorities. The bad news is that Senate Republicans continue their strategy of skipping out on floor sessions to deny a quorum, halting all bills passing out of the Senate. That means the state two year budget cannot be approved, even though there is more money than we expected. Due to 2022’s Measure 113, the 10 Senate Republicans who have accrued more than 10 absences are barred from running for reelection. Governor Kotek pledges to call legislators back for a special session to approve the budget if the Republican absentees do not return before the mandated end of session on June 25th. Unfortunately, that means dozens of good, timely, necessary bills will die, including beaver protections, drinking watershed protections, and natural climate solutions.

Other agencies: This month, we’re highlighting an advocacy group, the Sisters Trail Alliance (https://sisterstrails.org). The values of STA are sustainable recreation, wildlife habitat protection, public lands access, and climate action, and they put their values into action in Central Oregon with trail user education, advocacy to prevent forest damage from logging, and so much more. Across Oregon, trail stewards from the Salem Area Trail Alliance (https://www.salemtrails.org) and the Northwest Trail Alliance (https://nw-trail.org)to the Greater Hells Canyon Council (https://www.hellscanyon.org) expand our horizons while building a love for the special public lands all around us.

April Update

Roughly 3.2 million Oregonians get their drinking water from forested watersheds. Let’s stay aware of what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other public agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect our own forest watersheds and others across Oregon.

Action Alert: Beavers are the ultimate ecosystem engineers. Where beavers thrive, riparian zones flourish, water slows down and sinks into the shallow aquifer, and wildfire is less severe. There are many actions we can take to support beaver expansion in Oregon, from directing them away from critical infrastructure to replanting their food sources along creeks where we want re-establishment. And, we can remove their status as predators, which currently allows indiscriminate and un-recorded killing of beavers. The Oregon House of Representatives approved this change in HB 3464, and soon the Senate Committee on Natural Resources will consider the bill. Contact Oregon Senators with your support!

Private Forest Accord: If you have not signed up for the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System (FERNS), do it today https://yourforestwatershed.org/getting-started-with-ferns On July 1st, industrial timber operators begin following the expanded buffer requirements for fish-bearing streams; for more info https://www.oregon.gov/odf/working/documents/stream-classification-and-vegetation-retention.pdf . The maps that determine buffer size will be available in May, and can be modified if you know a stream is fish-bearing but it is not labeled as such. If you want to amend the maps, contact your local Department of Forestry stewardship forester https://www.oregon.gov/odf/working/Pages/findaforester.aspx or reach out to me (ck@oregonwild.org).

State Forests: The Oregon Board of Forestry meets this week in Enterprise to look at newly-protected forest land and to update their strategic plan, the Forestry Program for Oregon, which is supposed to guide state rules and interactions with private, state, and federal forest lands. Like all Board meetings, you can view this one on the Department’s YouTube page; https://www.youtube.com/oregondepartmentofforestry/live On June 7th and 8th, the Board will meet in Sisters; there should be lots of testimony about the proposed state forest habitat conservation plan and about the ongoing use of state tax dollars to thin forest far from homes in the name of wildfire risk reduction. If you want to testify in person or virtually about the importance of state forests for drinking water, I can help.

Legislature: Many future state laws are waiting at the Ways & Means Committee to be included in the budget. A number of bills that improve forest watersheds are still alive; if you want to send a note of support, email the Ways and Means Committee members to ask them to fund the bill. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Committees/JWM/Overview  

Senate Bill 530 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB530 will fund natural climate solutions to store carbon, improve drinking water and air quality, and benefit forest and farm businesses. It needs help at Ways and Means.

House Bill 3464 removes the predator status for beavers, which means more beavers, more riparian areas fire-proofed, and more clean water. It has already been passed by the House and is sitting in the Senate Natural Resources Committee. https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3464 

House Bill 2813 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB2813 will help communities purchase their watershed to protect drinking water. It needs help at Ways and Means.

House Bill 3124 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3124 is a sprawling drought-prevention and -recovery funding package. If your water is at risk, let’s talk about how to get funding; I’m in conversations with legislators about prioritizing drinking water and habitat protections.

Other agencies: This month, we’re highlighting the Department of the Interior and the US Forest Service, who just announced rule-making to protect mature and old growth forests and to perform a detailed inventory of mature and old trees and forests https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2023/04/20/biden-harris-administration-announces-new-steps-climate-resilience , which both blunt the impact of climate change and clean the drinking water for 20% of Americans. Did you realize federal agencies continue to sell off old growth? Unbelievable. President Biden continues to work with a broad array of folks to get these forests protected permanently. The comment period opens soon; stay tuned here for updates.

March Update

Topline Summary: Roughly 3.2 million Oregonians get their drinking water from forested watersheds. Let’s stay aware of what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other state agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect our own forest watersheds and others across Oregon.

Action Alert: Timber companies act like their profits are more important than clean drinking water, fish survival, and a stable climate for all. They are pressuring the volunteer Oregon Board of Forestry to upend protections for fish, drinking water, and carbon storage in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. They demand continued cash from our forests. If you support watershed protections, the Board of Forestry and Oregon Governor Kotek want to hear that loud and clear. Take action now!

Private Forest Accord: If you have not signed up for the Forest Activity Electronic Reporting and Notification System (FERNS), you are missing out. Aerial herbicide spraying near you will trigger a notification, and you can see timber company plans for your neighborhood or places where you hike and fish. Sign up now! https://yourforestwatershed.org/getting-started-with-ferns Coming in June, timber operators will be following the new, expanded stream-side buffer rules; if you see logging or spraying closer than is allowed to streams, please contact your local Department of Forestry stewardship forester https://www.oregon.gov/odf/working/Pages/findaforester.aspx or reach out to me (ck@oregonwild.org).

State Forests: Our state forest lands are managed by the state Department of Forestry for what the law calls “greatest permanent value” to all Oregonians. Greatest permanent value includes trees absorbing carbon pollution, stream beds hosting fish nests, trails for hikers and dirt bikers, and timber harvesting. But over the last 20 years, our public land has been used as a cash register for county services, wildfire financing, and mill owner profits. There’s a lot of work to do and there’s a lot of skilled workers to do the work. Stay tuned for how you can help skilled folks stay employed in the woods improving forest and stream health.

Legislature: Bills are moving out of committee and getting signed into law. There are a number of bills that improve forest watersheds that are still alive; if you want to send a note of support, click the link and look for the “Testify” button. The form allows you to input your name and click “support.” Or you can elaborate. 

Senate Bill 530 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB530 will fund natural climate solutions to store carbon, improve drinking water and air quality, and benefit forest and farm business finances. 

House Bill 3019 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3019 reforms the public Oregon Forest Resources Institute to limit OFRI’s dissemination of industry propaganda. 

House Bill 2813 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB2813 will help communities purchase their watershed to protect drinking water. 

House Bill 3159 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3159 raises the statewide transient lodging tax to fund critical wildlife habitat restoration, much of it in forested watersheds across Oregon.

House Bill 3124 https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3124 is a sprawling drought-prevention and -recovery funding package. If your water is at risk, let’s talk about how to get funding here.

Other agencies: This month, we’re highlighting Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and their efforts to reduce non-point source pollution from farms, roads, and industrial forests on the Coast, to come into compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. Because the state has been unable to reduce non-point source pollution of Coastal rivers, the federal government continues to withhold funding for coastal cities and counties. https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2016/03/oregon_fined_12_m_for_failing.html The Private Forest Accord’s conservation measures should eliminate the pollution from forest activities, but other sources remain. To learn more about your nearest streams, you can navigate to Oregon DEQ’s 2022 Approved Integrated Report https://www.oregon.gov/deq/wq/Pages/epaApprovedIR.aspx and click on “submittal documents > 2022 303d and impaired waters” to see streams with poor water quality and what is driving it.

February Update: Clearcuts for Kids is Unacceptable!

Our water comes from the forest. Let’s learn what’s happening with private & state forests, at the legislature, and among other state agencies. Then together, let’s take action to protect forest watersheds across Oregon.

Take Action

 Right now, Oregon State Forests are logged to fund local governments. Senate Bill 90 forms a task force to find alternative funding for local governments so that we can protect fisheries & drinking water while expanding recreation opportunities on State Forest land. Please share your support for protecting state forest land with the Natural Resources Committee.

Private Forest Accord

The negotiated improvements in forest practices that were included in the Private Forest Accord traveled through the Legislature to become law, through the Board of Forestry to get rules drafted for implementation, and now the extensive updates to the 50-year-old Oregon Forest Practices Act are getting folded into a private forest Habitat Conservation Plan for fish & amphibians. This next step means the federal government will bless the improvements in forest practices as sufficient to protect threatened species. Here at Oregon Wild, we continue to push for strong forest protections and for the science to back up the protections. I’ll make sure you know about opportunities to get involved!

State Lands

The Oregon Board of Forestry is busy considering a state forest Habitat Conservation Plan that would designate particularly important regions of the Coast Range as protected spaces for threatened and endangered fish, but the plan still proposes to use the rest of the forest for high-intensity commercial logging. The cash generated from logging our public forests goes one-third to the Department for managing the land and fighting wildfires and two-thirds to the counties where the logging takes place. I’ll make sure you know how to join Oregon Wild and the Wild Salmon Center to protect these public forest watersheds for all of us from fish to people.

Oregon Legislature

The Legislature convened in January, and bills are moving out of committee! (This can be exciting or terrifying, depending upon the bill.) There are a number of bills that improve forest watersheds that you may want to know about. You can take action to support SB 90 today (see above). Senate Bill 530 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/SB530) will fund natural climate solutions to store carbon, improve drinking water and air quality, and benefit forest and farm business finances. House Bill 3019 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3019) reforms the Oregon Forest Resources Institute in alignment with the Secretary of State’s audit in order to limit OFRI’s dissemination of industry propaganda. House Bill 2813 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB2813) will fund communities purchasing their watershed to protect drinking water. House Bill 3159 (https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2023R1/Measures/Overview/HB3159) raises the statewide transient lodging tax to fund critical wildlife habitat restoration, much of it in forested watersheds across Oregon.

Other Agencies

This month, we’re highlighting Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan’s water advisory report (https://sos.oregon.gov/audits/documents/2023-04.pdf). She concludes (1) Oregon agencies need to work together, (2) a statewide water strategy needs to include local priorities for water use (whether that is emphasizing rural drinking water quality or in-stream water for fish or irrigation), and (3) state & federal water managers need to include tribal communities in water decisions.