The Siuslaw National Forest, spanning the central Coast Range of Oregon, grows trees like no where else in Oregon. Much of it is steep and rugged, with thousands of streams cutting through forests of Douglas-fir, hemlock, and Sitka spruce. Unfortunately, much of this Forest's majestic forests and streams were destroyed by reckless logging and road building over the past century.

When the Northwest Forest Plan defined most of the Siuslaw as Late-Successional Reserves or Riparian Reserves for threatened fish and wildlife, the Forest faced a choice: begrudgingly go along with the new direction, or act with vision and leadership to enact the spirit of this new policy by shifting away from old-growth logging and moving into active restoration of habitat. With the help of the Forest's Supervisor Jim Furnish, the Forest chose the latter and started the Siuslaw on a path now celebrated by conservationists.

With hundreds of thousands of acres of young, previously clear-cut, and fast-growing plantations, the Siuslaw had a great opportunity to both do restoration that benefited fish and wildlife habitat AND provide commercial timber.

The Siuslaw has now successfully planned and implemented dozens of projects that focus on the thinning of tree plantations in former clearcuts, improve fish habitat, and put forests on a trajectory to one day become healthy, diverse old-growth once more. These projects have also resulted in a supply of timber and jobs that help sustain local businesses and communities.

And by involving diverse interests in the planning of these projects, the Forest has reduced the controversy that still lingers in other Forests that have not changed their M.O. so dramatically.

For example, since 2003, Oregon Wild has been involved in collaborative stewardship groups with representatives of the Forest Service, economic development, watershed councils, rural landowners, and other diverse interests who have come together to promote restoration of both public and private lands to benefit fish and wildlife.

We believe that this type of public involvement with the Forest Service has led to an increased understanding by all parties of the type of restoration needed to benefit public values, less controversy over management activities, and a model for other Forests to learn from.