Oregon state forests
Tillamook and Clatsop state forests and the world-class rivers that depend on them are in jeopardy
The State of Oregon manages over 500,000 acres of the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests on the North Coast of the state. These forests provide vital habitat for some of Oregon's premier salmon and steelhead fisheries including the Kilchis, Miami, Nehalem, Salmonberry, Trask and Wilson rivers, the Tillamook and Nehalem bays, and off shore fisheries of the North Coast. These fisheries provide important sources of income to local communities on the Oregon North Coast and to the state as a whole.
In addition to anchoring globally important wild salmon and steelhead runs, these forests provide abundant wildlife habitat, air and water purification, flood and climate regulation, carbon sequestration, wetlands, air quality, world-class recreation opportunities, and diverse forest products. More than 400,000 people get some or all of their water supply from rivers flowing through the Tillamook State Forest. The Steelheaders and our partners believe part of this enormous public forest should be designated for permanent conservation.
Steelheaders have been working for several years to both advance conservation protections and defeat calls for logging to outweigh all other values. The Tillamook and Clatsop state forests provide values and benefits far beyond timber production. Timber harvest is an important form of employment and wealth for the North Coast; however, fishing, recreation, and tourism are also well-recognized and important elements of a diversified North Coast economy. Steelheaders is joining forces with the Wild Salmon Center and the Sierra Club (North Coast Forest Coalition) to ensure a mixed and balanced management of state forests, including significant areas managed for shorter-term timber production and other significant areas managed for long-term conservation.
Our vision also includes using the best-available science when making decisions on management of the state's forests. A recent article in the Oregonian ("Review rips state forest plans," April 30, 2011) revealed that the Oregon Department of Forestry consistently failed to use the best available science in evaluating the impacts of its proposal to significantly increase clear-cutting and reduce older forest habitat across the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests.
Ultimately, the Board of Forestry needs to do a better job protecting older forests, salmon streams, and fish and wildlife on Oregon's publicly owned state forests. Decisions should be made using the best available science, and it is long past due for the Board to cement longer term protection for key salmon anchor habitats and protect them from extensive clear-cutting and road building.
You can help protect the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests and help preserve our world-class North Coast fisheries.
Please sign the petition HERE
Contact the
Board of Forestry HERE
Join
us on Facebook HERE.
For more
information, click HERE.
More links:
Map
of the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests with
salmon anchor habitats and proposed timber
cuts
Comments
on HB 2001 State Forests
Comments
on HB 2597 State Forests
Oregonian
editorial