Governor Kate Brown [Salem, Oregon] with WSC CEO Guido Rahr, far left, Bob Van Dyk, second from right, and conservation and timber signatories to the 2020 agreement. A groundbreaking agreement between forestry representatives, conservation and fishing organizations, including Wild Salmon Center. Proposed changes to Forest Practices Act to be brought before Legislature after nearly ten months of negotiations between private forestry representatives, small forestland owners, conservation leaders, and fishing organizations has resulted in a historic proposal for new protections for sensitive species on over 10 million acres of forestland in Oregon. The proposal seeks to meet the federal standards for a statewide Habitat Conservation Plan. The changes to the Forest Practices Act agreed to by the parties will be brought before the Legislature. Photo by Emily Vaughan-Klickman/Crag Law Center
With Governor Brown’s signature, salmon earn new protections across 10 million acres of private forestland in Oregon
By Oakley Brooks / Wild Salmon Center / May 19, 2022
Yesterday, May 19th, at the World Forestry Center in Portland, Governor Kate Brown signed the Private Forest Accord into law. The comprehensive bill package, passed by bipartisan votes in the Legislature in March, marks the crowning moment of our decades-long campaign to modernize Oregon’s outdated private forest practices—long the weakest on the West Coast.
The result of two years of work between 13 timber industry representatives and 13 conservation and fishing groups, including Wild Salmon Center, the Accord updates logging practices to better protect salmon across 60,000 miles of Oregon rivers and streams.
Male coho salmon spawning colors. Illustration by award winning watercolorist Thom Glace.
Among many other changes, the bill expands minimum streamside forest buffers while also improving logging practices on steep slopes and management of logging roads—both key factors in keeping streams clean and cold in the face of climate change.
Negotiators from the conservation/fishing team and the timber industry joined Gov. Brown at the signing. Read Gov. Brown’s remarks here and WSC Oregon Policy Director Bob Van Dyk’s remarks here.
