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Hi Everybody!
Climate change, and the trend for warmer, dryer summers is putting Oregon Forestlands at risk of more extreme wildfires. Last week my House Natural Resources Committee heard from State Forester Peter Daugherty who shared some dire information.
Half of Oregon’s land base, or 30 million acres is forested, and the Oregon Department of Forestry provides fire protection on 16 million acres, and over the years, the length of the fire season has been increasing, along with the intensity of the damaging fires.
The ten-year average of firefighting costs alone has more than tripled in the past decade, with gross large fire costs rising from $8 million to over $35 million. But this is just a fraction of the actual costs to the forest economic sector, higher occurrence of wildfires increases the threat to firefighter safety, loss of forest resources and property and compromises the economics of working forestland. Wildfire smoke imperils public health and the economy. In 2017, Oregon had a 65 percent increase in unhealthy air quality readings and a loss of over $50 million in visitor spending.
As State Forester, Daugherty oversees the Oregon department of Forestry (ODF) which manages 730,000 thousand acres of Board of Forestry lands to secure the greatest permanent value by providing healthy, productive and sustainable forests that provide a full range of social, economic and environmental benefits for Oregonians. Lands are managed to provide timber revenue to the state, local schools and communities and local taxing districts.
The good news is that Oregon State Forests are providing all kinds of increasing benefits for Oregonians. Harvest levels are up 22 percent, over the past five-year average, generating nearly $80 million in revenue distribution to the counties. Increasing use of recreational opportunities including camping, hunting, hiking and off-road vehicle use, and a record number of visitors to the Tillamook Forest center. All improvements were achieved while providing high quality habitat for native fish, and terrestrial species such as owls and marbled murrelets.
ODF continues to work with private and federal forest operators enhancing resource protection and forest restoration. Since the 2017 Legislative Session we have been funding work with federal land managers to increase the pace, scale and quality of restoration on Oregon’s federal forests. Creating additional harvest opportunities and putting more Oregonians back to work while generating millions of dollars of revenue. According to State Forester Daugherty, ODF has agreements in place for project work on ten of the 11 National forests in Oregon. For these, federal funds are used to pay ODF to implement projects on federal lands which Daugherty says is the future of our Federal Forest Restoration Program, much of the proposed project work would not happen without ODF stepping up to perform the work.
So, while we need to be careful to protect our forestlands, I believe the Department of Forestry is on the right track with their approach to forestland management...protecting Oregonians’ $60 billion dollar forestlands asset for a host of social, environmental and economic benefits for all of us.
Thanks for reading my newsletter-
Brad
Representative Brad Witt
House District 31
email: Rep.BradWitt@oregonlegislature.gov I phone: 503-986-1431
address: 900 Court St NE, H-382, Salem, OR, 97301
website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/witt
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