Oregon would require harvest targets for available state forestlands

Under the State Board of Forestry’s direction, the State Forester would adopt rules setting a 10-year timber harvest plan with annual amounts. The State Forester would decide which state forestlands and Common School Forest Lands are available for timber harvest. The plan would have to account for forest conditions, lawful management policies, and applicable state and federal law. The forester would have to consider lawful policies applying a submitted wildlife habitat protection plan before federal approval. This duty would not cover implementation lasting beyond one year after the act’s passage or the plan’s formal submission, whichever is later. The first plan would be due on or before January 1, 2027. The forester would adopt a plan at least every 10 years, before management changes that materially affect harvest volume, or when available forestland conditions materially change.

The State Forester would manage available state forestlands to produce the planned timber harvest amounts. The management duty would cover forestlands the State Forester determines are available for timber harvest. Each plan would include previously planned timber amounts that were not harvested, unless urgent circumstances, such as disease, wildfire, or storm damage, prevented the harvest. The duty to meet harvest amounts would apply only as far as other legal requirements allow. Existing land management obligations would remain in place. If enacted, the act would take effect upon passage.

People could ask the Marion County Circuit Court to order the State Forester to fulfill the planning or forest management duties. Anyone could seek an order over a missed planning deadline. Only people or organizations legally entitled to state forest revenue could seek an order over failure to follow the management duties. When a case involves federal requirements, the court would have to give weight to the forester’s reasonable interpretation if it does not conflict with applicable law. Orders about forest management would enforce the harvest duty within the limits of other applicable laws. Court requests would be allowed when the forester misses a required planning deadline or fails to follow the act’s forest management requirements.