CLATSOP BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS APPROVES LETTER TO STATE ON CLATSOP FOREST PLAN

The Clatsop County Board of Commissioners will send a letter to the Oregon Department of Forestry urging the agency to use the “best available science” to balance timber harvesting, habitat protection and recreational uses on the Clatsop State Forest.
The board took public testimony from more than 50 citizens Wednesday before settling on wording for the letter, which constitutes the board’s input on the proposed Implementation Plan for state forestry’s Astoria District. The board changed the time of its meeting to accommodate public comments.
Commissioners Debra Birkby, Peter Huhtala, Scott Lee and Chair Dirk Rohne voted for the letter. Commissioner Patricia Roberts abstained, saying she would send her own comments to the state.
The proposed Implementation Plan spells out how the goals and performance measures of the revised Northwest Oregon Forest Management Plan will be carried out on the 150,000-acre Astoria District, which covers the Clatsop State Forest. The new Management Plan, adopted in 2010 by the Oregon Board of Forestry, revised some of the goals of the original 2001 plan in order to increase revenue to local schools, governments and taxing districts by 5 to 15 percent in the next ten years.
The Management Plan achieves that goal by reducing the long-term target for “complex forest structures” ? stands managed to develop the features of older forests ? from 40-60 percent of the forest to 30-50 percent. The Implementation Plan sets the Astoria District goal at 30 percent, which allows for a modest increase in projected annual harvest levels from 67.5 million board feet to 73 million board feet, or 8 percent higher.
The Implementation Plan also incorporates the Management Plan’s replacement of the former Habitat Conservation Plan with a new Species of Concern preservation model to guide the department’s measures for protecting wildlife habitat. The Species of Concern is intended to provide more site-specific protection strategies for fish and wildlife and their habitat.
State forestry is taking public comment on the Implementation Plan through May 25.
The letter points out that “forestry is a fundamental part of Clatsop County residents’ culture.”
“The forest provides family wage jobs. These jobs create the traditions, social structures and the profound sense of stewardship our residents feel for these lands,” it states.
On the change to the Species of Concern strategy, the board’s letter “supports efforts by the Board of Forestry to make sure that the (Species of Concern) approach meets the intent of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife conservation strategies. The use of locally developed strategies that comply with the Federal Endangered Species Act appears to be more specific and targeted.”
The letter also makes reference to an independent scientific study conducted by the Institute for Natural Resources that pointed to shortcomings in some of the research behind the Species of Concern habitat strategy, and states “we expect the Board of Forestry to use the best available science.”
Oregon Department of Forestry welcomes comments on the Implementation Plan through May 25. To view the plan and to find out how to comment, go to the ODF website, www.oregon.gov/ODF.