May 18, 2022 4:30 p.m. 

On Wednesday, Governor Kate Brown signed the bipartisan Private Forest Accord package, Senate Bills 1501 and 1502, and House Bill 4055, at the World Forestry Center in Portland.

A release said she was joined by representatives from twenty-five private forestry, small forestland, conservation and fishing organizations who negotiated the historic agreement. The release said the package is the most comprehensive update to the Forest Practices Act since 1971, establishing new protections for salmon and other sensitive species on over ten million acres of forestland in Oregon. The proposal seeks to meet the federal standards for a statewide Habitat Conservation Plan.

Brown said, “The package of bills I signed today is built on the understanding that, through science-based forest management, we can strike the right balance between protecting the health of our forests and creating jobs and economic growth in our rural communities at the same time”.  Brown said the process did not happen overnight. She said, “it took months of painstaking work, up until the very last day possible. To build relationships, to establish trust, to find common ground and a path forward that will maintain our vibrant Oregon forests and the communities that depend on them for generations to come”.

Organizations joining the Governor from the conservation and fishing negotiators included Oregon Wild, Trout Unlimited, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and Umpqua Watersheds. Groups from the forest industry sector included Seneca Sawmill/Sierra Pacific Industries, Roseburg Forest Products, Oregon Small Woodlands Association and Lone Rock Resources.

A recording of the bill signing is on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfuSz2TFGJM