[ODF_Private_Forests] Forest Legacy Program review set for October 21

[WEEKS Kevin]

Oregon Department of Forestry

NEWS RELEASE



Forest Legacy Program review set for October 21



October 8, 2009

Contact: Kevin Weeks (503) 945-7427

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) will update advisory committee members about the Forest Legacy Program and review Oregon’s current applicants for the program on October 21.

The Forest Legacy Program, administered in Oregon by ODF, is a national cooperative forestry program of the U.S. Forest Service that seeks to conserve private forest lands in areas where forests may be lost to non-forest uses, to help protect forest resources, and enhance community forest conservation partnerships.



The program review and discussion of applications will occur during the State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee meeting on Wednesday October 21, 2009 from 10:00am to Noon at the Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters in Salem, 2600 State Street (Operations Building D, Santiam meeting room). The public is invited to attend the advisory committee meeting.


Committee members will be updated on the Assessment of Need Update process and review the project applications received for consideration for funding in federal fiscal year 2011. The Forest Legacy Program is designed to support state and community efforts to keep forestland viable, and keeping working forests as forests. The voluntary program provides financial incentives --  using conservation easements or land acquisition  -- for private landowners to protect environmentally important working forest areas (those that provide forest products, water, fish and wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities) that are threatened by development, fragmentation and other non-forest uses.



Questions about accessibility or special accommodations for the meeting can be directed to the Oregon Department of Forestry at 503-945-7368.


A conservation easement is a legal restriction placed on a piece of property to protect a specific resource, or several resources. Conservation easements protect land for enjoyment by future generations while allowing owners to retain many private property rights and to live on and use their land, at the same time potentially providing the landowner with incentive or tax benefits.


One-half of Oregon’s 61 million acres are forested, with 60 percent of Oregon’s forests under federal ownership, 35 percent privately-owned while state, tribal or local government ownership accounts for the remaining five percent. Additional information about the Oregon Department of Forestry is available on ODF’s web site, www.oregon.gov/ODF<http://www.oregon.gov/ODF>

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Kevin Weeks
Public Information Officer
ODF Agency Affairs Office
(503) 945-7427