Press Release: Cascadia Wildlands Statement on Board of Forestry Decision to Advance a Habitat Conservation Plan for Western Oregon State Forests

March 8, 2024 — The Oregon Board of Forestry made a historic decision to move forward with a Habitat Conservation Plan for 640,000 acres of western Oregon state forests at its March 7th meeting in Salem. Voting 4-3 in favor of directing Oregon Department of Forestry to move forward with the draft Habitat Conservation Plan, the agency will now finalize the plan to establish a network of habitat and riparian conservation areas across roughly 300,000 acres of state forests and await federal approval. The department will also continue developing a new Forest Management Plan to guide implementation of the Habitat Conservation Plan.

Press Release: Letter Calls on Gov. Kotek to Protect Old-Growth Forests, Cook Creek Watershed

November 14, 2023 — Eleven conservation groups today sent a letter calling on Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek and the Board of Forestry to protect additional acres of forest lands in the proposed Western Oregon State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan. Their proposed increase in protected mature and old-growth forest land would help safeguard imperiled species like the threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon and marbled murrelet.

Oregon Board of Forestry Petitioned to Develop Coho Salmon Protections

April 24, 2019 — Today, twenty conservation and fishing organizations delivered a rulemaking petition to the Oregon Board of Forestry requesting new rules to prevent logging-related harm to “resource sites” for coho salmon listed under the state and federal Endangered Species Act. Coho salmon, which are split into three evolutionarily significant units in Oregon, were first listed in Southern Oregon in 1997, and soon thereafter along the rest of the Oregon Coast in 1998. The Lower Columbia coho population was listed almost over a decade ago, in 2005.

Oregon Board of Forestry Reverses Course, Will Develop Murrelet Protections

December 1, 2016 — The Oregon Board of Forestry has reversed its prior decision to deny a petition from conservation groups that called for the identification and protection of marbled murrelet sites on state and private forest lands. The Board is now coordinating with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and other state land owning agencies to identify and protect important old-growth forest areas for the seabird threatened with extinction.

Oregon Board of Forestry Sued for Failure to Protect Marbled Murrelet Habitat

September 30, 2016 — Four conservation organizations filed suit today against the Oregon Board of Forestry over dismissal of a petition requesting the Board identify and protect important old-growth forest areas for the marbled murrelet, a seabird threatened with extinction. Under Oregon law, the Board was supposed to have provided such protection after the seabird was protected as threatened under the state Endangered Species Act in 1987.

Greater Protections Sought for Marbled Murrelets in Oregon

June 21, 2016 — Conservation groups submitted petitions today asking the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) and the Oregon Board of Forestry to take new measures to better identify and protect important forest areas for protected marbled murrelets. The petition to ODFW requests that the agency “uplist” the marbled murrelet to “endangered” status under the Oregon Endangered Species Act (OESA). The petition to the Board of Forestry asks the agency to identify and protect important forest sites critical to the species’ survival.