Oregon Forest Reform Bill Passes!
On Friday, the Oregon Legislature passed new forestry reforms and directed the state to set up a mediation process for comprehensive protections for salmon streams on non-federal forests.
Your emails to legislators helped push this bill over the finish line!
The legislation sets up bigger buffers from aerial pesticide spray around homes, schools, and many small streams. It will start a first-in-the-nation system to allow people to get notified when aerial spray of forestlands happens near their homes. And it requires larger stream buffers on many salmon streams in the Rogue-Siskiyou region.
This validates the hard work by conservation and fishing groups to hammer out a deal with timber companies this winter. And it shows the power of the grassroots and people like you in getting the deal approved by the Legislature.
See summaries of the legislation here and of the broader timber/conservation agreement here.
Take a moment to enjoy this milestone on the road to cleaner water, safer communities, and healthier salmon runs. And thank the people who helped in the Legislature.
