OFRI eNews: March 2022

Private Forest Accord ushers in changes

Much as 1971 is remembered as the year the Oregon Forest Practices Act (OFPA) became law, 2022 will likely be remembered as the year the Private Forest Accord (PFA) became law. Through the accord, forest landowners and conservationists have been working together for nearly two years, putting aside differences and finding collaborative solutions to better manage private forests and protect stream habitat.

The collaboration led to a historic legislative package that passed the 2022 legislative session earlier this month. The Private Forest Accord, the legislative package and the ensuing changes to the OFPA will help ensure that Oregon continues to have healthy forests, fish and wildlife, as well as a sustainable timber harvest to fuel our forest industry and rural communities.

To learn more about the Private Forest Accord, read the article below, check out OFRI’s recent blog post about the PFA and visit the new PFA page on our website.

OFRI will play a major role in the next few years educating the public and forest landowners about the PFA and the upcoming changes to the OFPA. Of special note are plans to update OFRI’s Oregon Forest Protection Laws: An Illustrated Manual to take into account the changes in the OFPA. This will be the fourth edition of our comprehensive guide to Oregon’s forest practices regulations. I must say it certainly is an exciting time to be involved in forest education.

For the forest,

Mike Cloughesy

Acting Executive Director

Timber industry, environmental groups collaborate to protect fish habitat

The Private Forest Accord, a coalition representing both the timber industry and multiple major environmental organizations, has helped usher in substantial upcoming changes to Oregon’s forest practices regulations. The changes are part of a legislative package negotiated and proposed by the diverse group that passed this month in the 2022 Oregon legislative session.

Gov. Kate Brown convened what would become known as the Private Forest Accord in 2020 to avoid Oregon citizens being faced with competing ballot measures on forestry regulations that year. OFRI has developed a new webpage offering detailed information about the accord and a timeline of significant events related to it.

The webpage also provides information for Oregonians about new laws associated with the accord. Three successful bills were the result of nearly a year of mediated discussions between timber and conservation stakeholders; they will change logging and other forest practices regulations for private forestland under the Oregon Forest Practices Act, with the goal of better protecting forest stream habitat for fish and other aquatic species.

The Oregon Board of Forestry is now tasked with integrating the regulations outlined in the bills into the Oregon Forest Practices Act. These include expanded restrictions on logging along streams to protect fish habitat, new standards for private forest roads, and creating a new modeling system to mitigate the effects of logging on steep slopes to reduce landslide risk.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PRIVATE FOREST ACCORD

OFRI starting executive director hiring process

The OFRI Board of Directors will be reviewing during its March 17 meeting the proposed process for hiring a permanent executive director to lead the Institute.

The meeting, which will be conducted virtually, is open to the public and starts at 9 a.m. An agenda and Zoom link to attend are available on the board meetings and materials page on OFRI’s website.

During the meeting, board members will discuss plans to hire a permanent executive director to replace Mike Cloughesy, who has served as OFRI’s acting executive director since last fall, but plans to return to retirement this summer. Members of the public who are in attendance will then have a chance to comment on the hiring process.

The public and stakeholders will also have other opportunities to weigh in on how OFRI hires its next executive director, and hiring plans will be subject to the Institute’s public review process.

Public comment sought on forest literacy plan

OFRI is seeking public comment on an update to the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan, a conceptual framework for K-12 forest education the Institute first developed in 2011, with the help of educators, academic professionals and natural resource specialists.

Designed as a tool for educators, the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan outlines concepts every student should know about Oregon’s forests by the end of high school. In doing so, it identifies priority topics for forestry education in our state, and provides a blueprint for lesson and program development. Education and natural resource professionals extensively reviewed and updated the framework in 2016, and again in 2022.

Now OFRI is seeking public input as to how well the draft concepts from the latest update articulate what K–12 students should know about Oregon's forests, and whether the concepts are accurate and complete. A downloadable draft of the Oregon Forest Literacy Plan concepts is available on the public review page on OFRI’s website, along with instructions on how to submit a comment via online survey, email or mail. All comments must be received by 5 p.m. on April 1.

REVIEW OR COMMENT ON FOREST LITERACY PLAN UPDATE

OFRI board gaining new member

The OFRI Board of Directors is welcoming a new member, Paul Betts. He is filling a vacant Class 2 position on the board, representing medium-sized timber producers of between 20 and 100 million board feet per year.

Betts has worked for Miami Alternatives LLC, formerly Miami Corp., since 2005, starting out as a field forester and engineer before being promoted to manager of the company’s Oregon tree farm. He has served as president of the West Oregon Forest Protective Association and is a current board member for the Oregon Forest & Industries Council.

The state forester appoints the 11 voting members of the 13-member OFRI board to serve three-year terms. The voting members include nine representatives of timber producer classes, with three each from small (Class 1), medium (Class 2) and large (Class 3) producers; one member representing small woodland owners; and one representative for forest industry employees. The board has two non-voting members: the dean of the Oregon University College of Forestry, and a public member appointed jointly by the president of the Oregon Senate and the speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.

All board meetings are open to the public. A board meeting schedule, meeting agendas and past meeting minutes are available on the board meeting and materials page on OFRI’s website.

ACCESS OFRI BOARD MEETING SCHEDULE AND MATERIALS

In other news...

Blog: "Collaboration and compromise"

“We are in a historic time of a paradigm shift in the collective approach to forest policy in Oregon,” OFRI Acting Director of Forestry Julie Woodward writes in a new blog post explaining the significance of the Private Forest Accord and how it will change Oregon’s forest practices regulations into the future. Read the blog here.

Public hearing on proposed OFRI budget

OFRI will hold a public hearing for its fiscal year 2022-23 budget during a meeting of the Institute’s board on April 21. The hearing will start at 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Wilsonville, 25425 SW 95th Ave. The proposed 2022-23 budget will be available for public review April 3 – 21 by emailing a request to Kathy Storm at storm@ofri.org and through the Oregon State Forester’s office by emailing a request to Esmeralda.B.BOIES@oregon.gov. An agenda for the public hearing and board meeting will be available here.

Entries sought for high school video contest

Oregon high school students have a chance to win cash prizes, including a grand prize of $1,000, by creating a video highlighting the diverse employment opportunities in the forest sector for the Thru the Trees contest. Contest entries are due by April 15. More information about the contest and how to enter is available here.

Grants awarded to small woodland owners to reduce fire risk

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) has awarded $5 million in grants to help small woodland owners reduce the risk of high-severity wildfire through the reduction of hazardous fuels. Approximately $4.2 million was awarded to 23 proposals submitted through grant sponsors, supporting over 600 landowners treating nearly 4,000 acres across Oregon. Learn more about ODF’s Small Forestland Grant Program here.

Portland marks 45 years as Tree City

Portland is marking 45 years of participating in the Arbor Day Foundation’s national Tree City USA program. The program provides communities with a framework for maintaining and growing their tree cover. Sixty-nine Oregon towns and cities are qualified as a Tree City USA. Portland is the state’s second longest participating Tree City USA, having enrolled a year later than Salem. Learn more about the Tree City USA program here.