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Unlikely Allies Share Table at Senate Hearing on Wyden Forest Bill

Conservationists and timber industry testify in support of old-growth protection and restoration legislation

Legislation expected to spur restoration activities while ensuring protections for old growth, key watersheds, wildlife.

Conservationists and timber industry representatives found themselves in an unusual position today, sharing a microphone in front of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests at a hearing on forest legislation introduced by Senator Ron Wyden. The Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old-Growth Protection and Jobs Act (S.2895), unveiled in December of last year, aims to end decades of controversy over the management of 8.3 millions acres of eastern Oregon national forest land. Longtime Oregon environmental leader Andy Kerr and current Managing Director of Ochoco Lumber Company John Shelk both testified in support of the bill.

Senator Wyden’s legislation builds on common ground reached between conservationists and the timber industry and would protect old growth forests and refocus national forest management in eastern Oregon on science-based restoration. Future logging would remove primarily smaller diameter trees and serve landscape-wide forest and watershed restoration goals. The legislation is the product of months of intense negotiations between conservationists, timber industry leaders, and Senator Wyden’s staff.

(See below for more details on the legislation)

Statements from local and national conservation organizations:

Steve Pedery, Conservation Director with Oregon Wild
“This Senate hearing is truly historic. Never before has Congress taken up a piece of forest legislation that had this amount of support from such diverse perspectives. It is exciting to see this old-growth restoration and protection legislation take its first step towards becoming the law of the land.”

Andy Kerr, Principal with the Larch Company
“Enactment of this legislation can mark the end of the timber wars for the eastside forests of Oregon. It will result in new rules of engagement for national forest stakeholders. Confrontation can give way to collaboration. Walking and talking in the woods can become more prevalent that litigating and arguing in the courts.”

Mary Scurlock, Policy Director for Pacific Rivers Council
“This bill keeps us moving toward recovery of eastside aquatic ecosystems by requiring adequate protection for streams and the species that depend on them. Fifteen years ago we went to court over harm to salmon on these forests, but now we’ve got broad agreement that strong stream protection policies benefit everyone.”

Randi Spivak, National Center for Conservation Science and Policy
“This legislation requires that forests be managed according to the best available science. Watersheds, wildlife, clean and abundant water and other forest values will all improve with scientific management as well as create jobs.”

Rick Brown, Defenders of Wildlife
“Eastern Oregon has both forests and communities that are at risk. This bill will help meet two important goals – restoring biological diversity in forests and family-wage jobs in local communities.”

Michael Powelson, Senior Policy Advisor with The Nature Conservancy
“The Nature Conservancy strongly supports this bill with its sound approach to forest and stream restoration. It will produce healthier habitats for fish and wildlife over millions of acres of public land while also creating more jobs in rural communities. We will work closely with Senator Wyden and others to pass the bill, and we’ll collaborate with other conservation partners, the timber industry, the U.S. Forest Service and local communities to ensure that it’s effectively implemented on the ground.”

Details of the Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act

The proposed Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act applies to National Forest System lands within Oregon not covered by the Northwest Forest Plan. In all, the legislation will set new management priorities on six National Forests covering approximately 8.3 million acres of federal public land. The terms of the bill call for enhanced conservation of old-growth forests, watershed protection, and a restoration focus for all future management activities. Conservationists expect the new legislation to dramatically increase the pace of forest and watershed restoration in eastern Oregon.

Specifically, the bill expands upon and makes permanent existing protections for trees larger than 21 inches in diameter. In addition, the bill creates a science advisory panel that will draw upon the best available science to develop restoration guidelines for the Forest Service, and help ensure future management actions are consistent with the bill’s restoration goals. The legislation also addresses the environmental impacts of the existing system of logging roads and precludes the building of new roads.

The legislation’s centerpiece is a requirement that the Forest Service begin planning landscape-level restoration projects that will improve forest and watershed health. These plans, which could encompass tens of thousands of acres, will seek to restore old-growth characteristics, protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat, restore natural fire regimes, and make forests more resilient to climate change.

The plans are expected to result in science-based restoration thinning projects which will increase the volume of small-diameter wood available timber mills in Eastern Oregon, and to provide increased certainty of timber supply in both the short and long terms.

The Oregon Eastside Forest Restoration, Old Growth Protection and Jobs Act differs from other forest legislation proposals in a number of key ways. The legislation is based on an historic agreement among conservation organizations and timber companies, does not attempt to weaken environmental safeguards like the Endangered Species Act or the National Environmental Policy Act, and ensures Americans retain their rights to challenge federal agencies in court if they believe the agencies are breaking the law.

This legislation comes at a critical moment in the debate over eastern Oregon forests. Unnatural forest conditions are being compounded by global warming, increasing the urgency to protect remaining old-growth and watersheds for the benefit of native fish, wildlife, and people.

Find out more of the legislation details in this Fact Sheet.

Read a Question & Answer document about the bill.

Read the full text of the legislation here.

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