April 1, 2026 3:05 a.m.

Democrats in the Oregon Congressional Delegation are calling on the Trump Administration to extend the comment period for its revised Western Oregon Resource Management Plans.

U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representatives Val Hoyle, Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Janelle Bynum and Maxine Dexter said the plans would open up forests in Western Oregon to new commercial timber harvest.

A joint release from the lawmakers said, “We urge the BLM to take a more robust and proactive approach to public involvement to ensure all proposed plans meet the needs of the public and avoid dividing communities that have long demonstrated the ability to find common ground on challenging issues when presented the opportunity”. This was in a letter to the BLM’s Oregon-Washington Acting State Director Kim Prill.

The Western Oregon Resource Management Plan controls over 2.4 million acres of forests across 17 counties in Oregon, including Douglas.  In February, the Trump Administration announced its intent to move forward with a revised plan that would return to 1960s timber harvest levels across the landscape.

The public comment period for the revised plan closed on March 23rd. During that period, the administration did not hold any public meetings on its new proposal. In their letter, the lawmakers requested the comment period be reopened for another 60 days to ensure that members of the community could make their voices heard.

A comprehensive list of areas that could be opened up for new timber harvest under the revised plan is linked: Federal Register :: Notice of Intent To Revise Resource Management Plans for Northwestern and Coastal Oregon and Southwestern Oregon in Oregon/Washington and Prepare an Associated Environmental Impact Statement