The Oregon Board of Forestry,
frustrated with the performance of the Northwest Forest Management Plan for the
Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests, assigned a Subcommittee to present options
to the full Board that can improve the financial performance of the forests
while also enhancing the recreational and conservation opportunities on the
once County-owned forestland.
The State took over management of the
forests from the Counties decades ago but the revenue generated from forest
management is shared with the Counties.
In 2001, the BOF adopted a new
strategy for the forests in an effort to develop forests that produced timber
revenue while providing habitat for wildlife species that favored a multi-layered
forest canopy.
The 2001 plan, dubbed
Structure-Based-Management, has never produced the volume of timber called for.
Frequent windstorms along the north coast have wreaked havoc for the
Structure-Based-Management Strategy since the trees that were left after management
frequently blew down.
The Stakeholders'
group met on November 11th and reviewed alternative forest management
strategies. Some group members were annoyed when the group struggled to
identify tactics that could lead to increased timber revenues.
The two timber representatives, Dave
Ivanoff, Hampton Affiliates and
Ray Jones, Stimson Lumber Co. and Tillamook County
Commissioner Tim Josi see a direct link between improved forest management
activities, including timber harvesting, and increased revenues.
The Stakeholders invited two forest analytical
experts, Terry Droessler and Mark
Rasmussen, to identify the biological and economic outcomes of the various
strategies being considered. The group will meet at least two more times before
presenting their recommendations to the BOF Subcommittee.
