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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Oregon Department of Forestry issued this news release today--<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Forestry Board seeks to highlight conservation areas in state-owned forests</span></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>July 26, 2012 <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Major media distribution<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Contacts:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Dan Postrel, (503) 881-3453, <a href="mailto:dpostrel@odf.state.or.us">dpostrel@odf.state.or.us</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Kevin Weeks, (503) 689-6879, <a href="mailto:kweeks@odf.state.or.us">kweeks@odf.state.or.us</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>TILLAMOOK – The state Board of Forestry moved Thursday to more explicitly indicate which portions of state-owned forests are managed with an emphasis on fish and wildlife habitat, mature forest conditions and other conservation values.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“State law requires that we manage these lands to produce a full range of benefits,” said board Chair John Blackwell of Portland. “That includes timber harvest, recreation, and habitat for a diversity of fish and wildlife. We should be able to clearly indicate to Oregonians those places on the landscape where conservation values are the top management priority.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>On Thursday, the board set in motion changes intended clarify the language used to describe conservation-emphasis lands across forests under board jurisdiction.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>State Forester Doug Decker said the board is beginning a fresh look at all aspects of its forest management, seeking to more effectively achieve a range of environmental, economic and social goals.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“Increasing the visibility of current conservation-emphasis areas—and highlighting the vision for these areas within a broader forest management context—is an important first step," he said. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Land classification language is embedded in state administrative rules. Current language labels conservation-emphasis lands according to specific attributes, such as wildlife forage or fish habitat, or designates lands where timber harvest would be impractical or would put natural resources at risk due to steep slopes, rocky soils or other characteristics.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The board agreed Thursday to group the variety of conservation priority areas under a classification called “high value conservation areas.” <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The board also discussed ways of making land classification decisions, now made by Department of Forestry staff with public input and board policy guidance, more durable, such as by elevating some or all decisions to the board level. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>However, board members agreed to fold this topic into the coming, broader review of the management of Board of Forestry lands.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Department staff are scheduled to consult with interested parties and return to the board in November with proposed rule language that would more clearly highlight conservation-emphasis areas. With the board’s approval or modification, the staff would then begin a formal rule-change process, including public comment, and would bring recommended new language to the board in July 2013. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The change would apply to all Board of Forestry lands—the Tillamook, Clatsop and Santiam state forests in northwestern Oregon, the Gilchrist and Sun Pass state forests east of the Cascades, and scattered small parcels throughout Oregon.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The management plan for the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay already includes designated conservation areas as one strategy to achieve overall plan objectives. Most of the Elliott is under jurisdiction of the State Land Board, made up of the governor, state treasurer and secretary of state. An agreement is in place under which the Department of Forestry provides management. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>State-owned forests cover more than 820,000 acres, about 2.7 percent of Oregon’s forest land base. Net revenue from timber sales helps to support county government, schools and other local public services.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Among other agenda items Thursday, the board heard an update on a cooperative effort to weigh the feasibility of developing a recreation corridor along a historic rail line in the Northern Coast Range’s Salmonberry River canyon, north of Tillamook. The department has joined the state Parks and Recreation Department, Cycle Oregon, the Port of Tillamook Bay and others to conduct the feasibility study.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>“Although we’re very early in the process, this corridor is clearly of immense value to our state,” Blackwell said. “There’s potential of many kinds, including economic revitalization for this part of the north coast, and helping to reconnect Oregonians with their forests.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Port President Bill Baertlein said a bike, pedestrian and horse trail adjoining the rail line, linking up with the existing Banks-Vernonia trail and with routes that could reach the Portland area, would enhance livability and help recruit new businesses to local communities and the port.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>With will and foresight, Baertlein said, transformation of the Salmonberry River corridor could “make Tillamook County a world-wide destination for bicyclists.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'> ### <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>