April 21, 2022
**This story originally published via the Jefferson Public Exchange
The rules are different for logging depending upon where the trees are in Oregon.
The national forests and Bureau of Land Management forests have more stringent requirements than privately-owned lands. And that’s been a major sore spot for conservation groups for years: that the Oregon Forest Practices Act was not even as strong as similar laws in neighboring states.
But the OFPA got an update in the 2022 legislative session, one of the outcomes of the Private Forest Accord, a meeting-of-the-minds between the timber industry and its critics. The coming together was seen as a desirable alternative to warring ballot measures.
The Oregon Forest & Industries Council was a big player, and the Wild Salmon Center had a stake as well.
Chris Edwards from OFIC and Bob Van Dyk from WSC chat about what got into the legislation, and what comes next.
