SALEM, Ore. — The Oregon Department of Forestry is hosting a public informational meeting Friday, March 18, on annual operations plans for state-owned forests in fiscal year 2023. These plans lay out on-the-ground activities expected to take place in the coming fiscal year, such as timber harvests, reforestation, and trail improvements.
The public informational meeting will be held via Zoom at 10 a.m. Friday, March 18, where attendees can ask questions about planned operations for fiscal year 2023.
The meeting link is at https://odf.zoom.us/j/91690157339.
Then on Monday, March 21 through Thursday, May 5, the public will be able to weigh in on the draft annual operations plans for state forests in the Astoria, Forest Grove, North Cascade, Klamath-Lake, Tillamook, West Oregon, and Western Lane Districts, which includes the Tillamook, Clatsop, Santiam, Sun Pass and Gilchrist state forests and other scattered parcels. For more information on state forests, visit https://tiny.cc/oregonstateforests.
By law, state forests must provide social, economic and environmental benefits to Oregonians. These lands are managed to create healthy, productive forests that provide high-quality habitat, clean water, revenues for rural communities, and recreation opportunities. Overall management policies and goals are established in long-range forest management plans and mid-range implementation plans. Annual operations plans describe activities to achieve the policies and goals laid out in those longer-range plans. Activities that affect fish and wildlife habitat are reviewed by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, while operations that may affect threatened and endangered fish and wildlife habitat are shared with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Common activities included in an Annual Operations Plan include:
- Timber harvest operations
- Recreation improvement and maintenance projects
- Forest road construction, maintenance, and improvements
- Reforestation/replanting and young stand management activities
- Habitat improvement for native species
- Invasive species management
About Oregon’s state forests: The Oregon Department of Forestry manages approximately 730,000 acres of Board of Forestry lands across 15 Oregon counties as well as 33,000 acres of Common School Fund land. This includes the Tillamook, Clatsop and Santiam state forests in western Oregon as well as the Sun Pass and Gilchrist state forests in Klamath County and scattered parcels throughout western Oregon.
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