Dear Reader,
Photo by dawn villaescusa
We are happy to forward this action alert to you from the Wild Salmon Center. For the past two years, the Audubon Society of Lincoln City has been working with the Wild Salmon Center and other participants in the Forest Coalition to advance a strong Habitat Conservation Plan for state forests in western Oregon.
Here’s the alert:
Step by step, month by month, we're getting closer to historic protections for salmon streams, wildlife habitat, mature forests, and clean water in our state forests.
Thanks to you and the power of your voice, this past July, the Department of Forestry began implementing many of the protections in the State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan that we’ve been supporting for the past two years. It’s clear that ODF is already acting in anticipation of final federal approval of the HCP in late 2024.
That’s great news, but we haven’t won yet. We have to stay loud for strong conservation—louder than the voices that still want ODF to scrap this plan completely.
TAKE ACTION: Tell the Board to finalize state forest protections!
This week, the Department of Forestry issued new timber harvest estimates for the 70-year lifespan of the HCP. Under the revised estimates, timber harvest will be reduced to sustainable levels compared to the past 20 years of overharvesting state forests. This is needed to restore balanced management on our state forests. But the timber industry and their political allies are using this information to try and derail the HCP.
Can you speak up today in support of the HCP as it stands: a plan that balances timber with the many other values that Oregonians have for these public lands?
Tell the Board to stay the course and finalize the HCP
This won’t be the last time we’ll need to speak up for strong conservation. The HCP is still at least one year away from federal approval. We’ll need to keep the pressure high or risk losing the progress we’ve made. The current HCP is a big conservation gain, and there are ways that we can further improve management of state forests:
Larger protective buffers on headwater streams are needed. A recent peer-reviewed study on the Trask River supports HCP Alternative 3 with larger protective buffers on small streams; and
We need to modernize the antiquated law that couples state forest timber revenue with funding for the counties: counties deserve more stable funding for local services.
We know there's more work to do, and we’re working hard to gain more ground in the coming months. But right now, the Board of Forestry needs to hear loud and clear that we want the HCP to stay on course.
The timber industry won’t be satisfied until our state forests are managed like private industrial forests. And delay and derailment tactics are its specialty. For the sake of our remaining mature state forests and the clean drinking water and healthy fish and wildlife habitat they provide, let's keep this legacy plan on track. Please tell the Board of Forestry to finalize a strong HCP without delay!
Sincerely,
Michael Lang