A Bipartisan Win for the Oregon Private Forest Accord

With a 43-15 vote in the Oregon House last week, the historic Private Forest Accord passed the Legislature, securing crucial protections for 60,000 miles of streams in Oregon. The bipartisan approval marks the crowning moment of Wild Salmon Center's decades-long campaign to modernize Oregon’s outdated private forest practices. “We didn’t get everything we wanted at the negotiating table,” says WSC Oregon Policy Director Bob Van Dyk, who played a pivotal role both in brokering the Accord and guiding the negotiations. “But this agreement is without a doubt an enormous and positive step for Oregon conservation." 

The Elliott Secures Role as Nationally Unique Research Forest

In another massive win from this legislative session, Oregon’s oldest state forest will finally be unshackled from logging to fund schools, and protected by strong and durable conservation commitments. The 82,500-acre Elliott State Forest is a key producer of Oregon Coast coho. But statute and practice have historically dictated that these lands be prioritized for logging. In recent decades, growing public pushback against this funding model led to state efforts to sell the forest to private bidders. Since 2017, WSC has worked with other conservation organizations on a plan to keep the Elliott in public hands while reshaping its role. Now, the Legislature has backed the plan, designating the Elliott as a nationally unique State Research Forest.

Oregon's First-Ever Conservation Drought Resilience Funding Package

With the approval of the state budget came further good news: $25 million in funding to increase the resilience of the state’s drought-imperiled rivers, wetlands, and fish. For months, WSC Oregon Water Policy Director Caylin Barter and a cadre of core conservation partners have been working to craft and secure a package of investments to meet both Oregon’s immediate drought resilience needs and set the stage for longer-term planning. On March 4, the Legislature passed a budget bill that includes the entire package crafted by WSC and our partners: a first-of-its-kind investment in Oregon's water future.

The mission of the Wild Salmon Center is to promote the conservation and sustainable use of wild salmon ecosystems across the Pacific Rim.

Photo credits (from top): Idiot Creek, Wilson River, Oregon (Rick Stare); Elliott State Research Forest (Steven Holt); Butte Creek, Rogue River, Oregon (Brian Kelley @brianfilm); Oregon waterfall (Alamy).

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