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.
