Federal Forestland in Oregon
Coming to terms with active forest management of federal forests
18.2 million acres
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute
A brief history
Most of Oregon’s 14.3
million acres of Forest
Service land were
established between
1893 and 1933 -- many
during the era of Teddy
Roosevelt’s second
term (1905-1909),
when Gifford Pinchot
was the first Chief of
the Forest Service.
Big Burn of 1910
• Swept through parts of
WA, ID, MT
• Burned through 10
national forests and
killed 87 people
• Resulted in new Forest
Service mandate: put
out all fires by 10 a.m.
the following day if
possible
Passive Management
• 1990, Northern Spotted Owl listing
• 1994, Northwest Forest Plan
by 2005 …
--Older forest grew by more than a
million acres
--Water quality improved
--Northern Spotted Owl populations
continued to decline
--Timber production from federal land
dropped by more than 90 percent
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute
East side, west side
Dry side
• 10 - 15 inches avg. rainfall/yr.
• Fires as often as 3 to 5 years
• Annual growth: 2.3 billion
board ft./yr.
Wet side
• 40 - 140+ inches avg.
rainfall/yr.
• Fires infrequent
• Annual growth: more than
8 billion board ft./yr.
Forests “out of whack”
The Nature Conservancy
estimates that approx.
9.5 million acres of
Oregon’s east side
forests are moderately
or severely departed
from healthy ecological
condition, due largely to
fire suppression and
proliferation of smalldiameter trees.
High risk of wildfires
• Millions of acres in forest
fire condition Class 2 and 3
• Understory trees generate
rapidly-spreading “crown
fires”
• Fires from passivelymanaged forests spread to
adjacent private lands
Decline in infrastructure
Oregon is losing valuable
forestry infrastructure
such as mills, logging
equipment and know-how
Since 1980, 50 east side
mills have closed and
only 15 remain
Communities struggle
Before
Rural counties earned 25% of the
receipts from sales of US Forest
Service timber; 50% from BLM’s
O&C Railroad land grant lands.
In addition, the federal
government provided annual
Payments In Lieu of [property]
Taxes on their holdings.
Now
Timber sales are reduced by
more than 90 percent. PILT
funding will end in 2013.
Public awareness
A growing public
recognition of the
forest’s value beyond a
demand for timber
Increasing concern for
the need to take action
to treat overstocked
forests to protect forest
health and prevent
wildfires
Scientists seek new ways
Many scientists feel there
may be a new way to
manage forests.
There is widespread
agreement that we have
passed the point where
passive management is
an option.
It is not too late for
restorative management.
Active management
Protecting fire-prone
dry forests will require
active management.
Thinning out young
trees and underbrush -accompanied by
controlled burning -can change fire
behavior and increase
forest resiliency.
Restoration at work
1. Dense, overstocked
understory
2. Trees thinned and much
understory removed
3. After controlled
prescriptive burning.
Approaching historic
norms.
Action necessary, and soon
Scientists,
policymakers and
conservation groups
agree that active
management is
necessary
Whether efforts will be
sufficient, or soon
enough, remains
uncertain at best.
The complex politics
Forest managers are in the difficult position
of having a 100-year vision, an annual budget,
and a Congress on a two-year election cycle
to approve it.
-- Jack Ward Thomas, former Forest Service Chief
The complex politics
2003 – Healthy Forest Restoration Act (passed)
2010, 2011 – Wyden Bill – Oregon Eastside Forests
Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act
2012 – DeFazio et al discussion draft for BLM O&C
2013 – DeFazio BLM O&C bill considered in House
2013 – Regional Forester Connaughton begins
Eastside Restoraton Initiative to increase pace and
scale of restoration
2013 – Gov. Kitzhaber and Oregon Legislature fund
Oregon effort to assist collaboratives and help
USFS planning
Oregon’s “unified vision”
 2004 – Governor Kulongoski called on the Board of Forestry
to “Create a unified vision of how federal lands should
contribute to the sustainability of our state’s forests.”
 2005, Federal Forestlands Advisory Committee created by
Legislature developed federal and local recommendations.
 2011, Governor Kitzhaber formed the FFAC Implementation
Working Group to implement these recommendations.
 2013, Governor Kitzhaber asked for an economic assessment
of increasing the rate of federal forest health restoration.
 2013, the Oregon Board of Forestry formed a federal
forestlands subcommittee to coordinate principles and actions
for the state to increase pace and scale of federal forest
restoration.
Collaboratives
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute
Getting projects on the ground
The Forest Service does not have the
funds or the manpower for the millions of
acres that need to be restored.
Others are proposing
solutions, or tackling
their own projects.
National Forest Health Restoration
Economic Assessment
“If Oregon were to double the average
number of acres treated annually to benefit
and restore ecosystem health on Oregon’s
dry-side national forestlands, then what
would that cost and what would be the
economic benefit?”
What doubling looks like
Economic Impact
Doubling
Jobs
Current Level
(2007-11)
2,310
Sawlogs
Biomass
Income
Economic Output
141 mmbf
225,000 bdt
$90,517,000
$231,512,000
282 mmbf
450,000 bdt
$181,034,000
$463,024,000
$3,612,000
129,000
$7,224,000
258,000
Tax Revenue
Acres Treated
4,620
Total economic impact
Average Annual
• 2,310 jobs created or retained
throughout the economy
• $90.5 million in total income
• $231.5 million in industrial output
• $3.6 million in state tax revenue
Federal Forestlands in Oregon | The
Oregon Forest Resources Institute
OFRI Special Report
The Oregon Forest Resources Institute
THANK YOU !
Any questions?