This is a big year for forests in Oregon. Here’s what you need to know

Oregon on the Verge of Major Changes to Forest Logging Rules

Oregon is on the verge of major changes to the rules that govern how state, federal, and privately owned forestlands are logged. These changes have been years in the making, and many are coming to a head this year, all with their own complicated backstories and varying timelines for public input. Many of these policies will be compromises hard fought between conservation and timber interests, bringing more environmental protections in some places and more timber harvesting in others.

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

1. Goal 15: Life on Land – Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
2. Goal 13: Climate Action – Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
3. Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all.

After 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan is getting amended

In the 1980s and ‘90s, loggers and environmentalists clashed over the Pacific Northwest’s ancient trees in what is sometimes called the “timber wars.” Those conflicts culminated in the Clinton administration ushering in the Northwest Forest Plan in 1994, a sweeping series of forest policies that would change the trajectory of federal forestlands in the Pacific Northwest. The idea was to protect endangered species — particularly the northern spotted owl, an enigmatic creature whose habitat dictated which lands the plan covered.

The plan broadly outlined when and where logging could occur across 24.5 million acres of federal land in western Oregon, Washington, and northwestern California. It set aside 7.4 million acres as protected reserves and banned clearcutting tree stands that were over 80 years old in those regions.

While national forests across the country also have their own individual plans, the Northwest plan is unique in its focus on a vast ecological region encompassing 17 national forests.

But those lands have changed over the last three decades as new threats emerged. Wildfires went from natural phenomena to catastrophic disasters, and tree-killing pests have ravaged forests, destroying spotted owl habitat. Then the invasive barred owl starting eating into spotted owls’ territory and competing for food. As a result, spotted owl populations have decreased since the plan’s implementation.

Brown said attempts to amend or update the plan have ebbed and flowed with the whims of presidential administrations. The U.S. Forest Service started working on an amendment under President Joe Biden. By summer 2023, it formed a 21-member advisory committee representing different industries, tribes, environmental groups, and government agencies.

The committee would have less than a year to come up with recommendations. Many members say that’s not enough time.

So far the committee has drawn up an 81-page draft outlining how the amendment could help vulnerable species, address a changing climate, and help struggling rural economies that once relied on timber.

For example, the committee recommends:

• The Forest Service meets regularly with the 89 federally recognized tribes whose ancestral lands are covered by the plan, as well as co-stewarding some lands with tribes.
• Conserving currently unprotected old and mature moist forests.
• Prohibiting salvage logging in many moist forests after a wildfire.

The Forest Service will have the final say in what’s ultimately included in the amendment, and there’s no requirement that it include any of the committee’s recommendations. At a late January meeting in Eugene, Forest Service staff slashed entire sections of the draft the advisory committee had spent months to develop, saying they weren’t relevant to an amendment.

Several committee members say the agency should have provided more guidance on what it was expecting earlier on.

“It’s difficult for us to be banging our head against the wall when there hasn’t been a lot of transparency from higher U.S. Forest Service leadership,” said committee member Ryan Reed during its January meeting in Eugene.

COMING UP: The advisory committee will deliver its recommendations in April. Then, early this summer, the Forest Service plans to publish a draft environmental impact statement, which will outline the amendment’s impact on forests and vulnerable species. The public will have 90 days to comment on the draft. The agency will decide whether to

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

SDGs Addressed:

1. SDG 15: Life on Land
2. SDG 13: Climate Action
3. SDG 14: Life Below Water
4. SDG 4: Quality Education

Targets Identified:

• Target 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains, and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
• Target 15.5: Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity, and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species.
• Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies, and planning.
• Target 14.2: By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration to achieve healthy and productive oceans.
• Target 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship, and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

Indicators:

• Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
• Indicator 15.5.1: Red List Index
• Indicator 13.2.1: Number of countries that have communicated the establishment or operationalization of an integrated policy/strategy/plan which increases their ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development in a manner that does not threaten food production
• Indicator 14.2.1: Proportion of national exclusive economic zones managed using ecosystem-based approaches
• Indicator 4.7.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Behold! This splendid article springs forth from the wellspring of knowledge, shaped by a wondrous proprietary AI technology that delved into a vast ocean of data, illuminating the path towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Remember that all rights are reserved by SDG Investors LLC, empowering us to champion progress together.

Source: opb.org

Join us, as fellow seekers of change, on a transformative journey at https://sdgtalks.ai/welcome, where you can become a member and actively contribute to shaping a brighter future.