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<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
line-height:150%'>The Oregon Department of Forestry issued this news release
today…<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
line-height:150%'><a
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/forestlegacy.shtml#Call_for_FY_2012_Applications___NEW__">Call
for Projects – Oregon’s Forest Legacy Program </a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
line-height:150%'>July 1, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='line-height:150%'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
line-height:150%'>Contact: Jim Cathcart,
503-945-7493 or Kevin Weeks, 503-945-7427<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>Project
applications are now being accepted for a program that works to protect the
future of Oregon’s forests by helping landowners assist conservation of
forests in areas threatened by risk of ownership fragmentation or development.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>The Oregon
Department of Forestry (ODF) administers the Forest Legacy Program in Oregon.
Forest Legacy 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. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>An initial
nomination of projects to be considered for funding in federal Fiscal Year 2012
may be submitted to ODF until August 13, 2010. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>Projects
determined to meet minimum eligibility requirements will be asked to formally
submit application materials by September 15, 2010. Oregon’s State
Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee will review proposals and prioritize
the state’s projects for funding consideration by the Forest Legacy
Program’s National Review Panel for final ranking into President Obama’s
federal FY 2012 budget. If a project is successfully funded by Congress,
funds would become available sometime during the October 2011 through September
2012 federal FY 2012 period.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>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, land
acquisition or land donation -- for private landowners to protect
environmentally important working forest areas that are threatened by
development, fragmentation and other non-forest uses.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>A new
innovation for this year is the requirement for a project pre-proposal to
assist Oregon evaluators consisting of a nomination letter and a description of
the forest property. Formal applications will be developed by applicants using
the national Forest Legacy Information System (FLIS) to ensure uniformity with
project submissions from other states. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>To be
eligible, the private forest lands seeking Forest Legacy Program funding must
be within one of 36 Forest Legacy areas identified across Oregon by the <b><a
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/docs/legacy/SFSCCCommitteeMembers.pdf"
title="State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee">State Forest
Stewardship Coordinating Committee</a></b>. Interested applicants should follow
the steps as outlined in the <b><i><a
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/docs/legacy/FY2012OregonApplicationInstructions.pdf">FY
2012 Oregon Application Instructions </a>. </i></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>In 2010,
Oregon updated its <b><a
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/docs/legacy/OregonForestLegacyProgramElements.pdf">Forest
Legacy Program</a></b> as part of a five-year Resource Strategy developed to
meet requirements of the 2008 Farm Bill. The updated program replaces
Oregon’s 2001 Assessment of Need.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>Oregon
welcomed its first Forest Legacy Program project in September 2007 when the
City of Eugene worked with a private landowner to preserve over 25 acres of oak
habitat in Eugene’s Wild Iris Ridge. The Forest Legacy program in Oregon
has also been awarded $4,000,000 for acquisition of a conservation easement for
the Skyline Forest near Bend. The Deschutes Land Trust is the lead conservation
partner for this project.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>A
conservation easement is a legal restriction placed on a piece of property to
protect a specific resource, or several resources, such as a working forest. By
stripping off certain property rights to the property – such as
development rights - conservation easements can be used to keep forestlands for
forestry purposes in perpetuity for enjoyment by future generations. The land
stays in private ownership and owners retain those private property rights
consistent with forestry purposes and the many forest resources values to be
conserved. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>For more information about the
Oregon’s Forest Legacy Program go to <b><a
href="http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/ForestLegacy.shtml">http://egov.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/ForestLegacy.shtml</a>,
</b>or contact Jim Cathcart, Oregon Department of Forestry at 503-945-7493 or
email, <b>jcathcart@odf.state.or.us</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;line-height:115%'>### <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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