SALEM, Ore. – Some 30,000 acres of privately owned forestland in Clackamas County could receive enhanced protections for water quality and wildlife habitat under a voluntary stewardship agreement being proposed by Seattle-based Port Blakely and the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF). The agreement would be the largest of its kind in Oregon.
The proposed agreement can be viewed online at https://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Working/Pages/FPA.aspx
ODF is now accepting comments on the agreement and will do so until 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 9. Comments can be emailed to PRIVATEFORESTS.PUBLICCOMMENT@oregon.gov.
An informational session about the agreement is scheduled on Wednesday, Jan. 8 from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. followed by a public hearing from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. where in-person comments will be accepted by ODF. Both meetings will be at the Molalla Fire Station 82, located at 320 N. Molalla Ave. in Molalla.
Stewardship agreements are voluntary land management agreements available to landowners under Oregon’s Forest Practices Act rules. They were established by the Oregon Legislature in their current form through House Bill 2114-B in 2007.
Under a stewardship agreement, a landowner agrees to exceed ODF regulatory requirements designed to protect natural resources, such as water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, in exchange for long-term regulatory certainty under Forest Practices Act rules. About 13 such agreements are in place in Oregon but Port Blakely’s would cover the largest amount of forestland.
The proposed stewardship agreement contains forest management and conservation measures that provide enhanced protection for fish-bearing streams and aquatic water bodies. The measures also aim to create and sustain a mosaic of diverse habitats to meet the needs of many land-based wildlife species. The habitat requirements of 20 total species, both listed and unlisted by the Oregon State Department of Fish and Wildlife, are addressed, including breeding, foraging and dispersing habitats.
“Port Blakely’s forest management plan is intended to ensure that there are better habitat conditions over the long term,” said Private Forests Division Chief Kyle Abraham. “In exchange for that commitment to enhanced stewardship, the company gets long-term certainty about state forestry rules governing water quality and wildlife habitat.”
A few examples cited by Port Blakely include leaving more wildlife trees standing in a unit after harvest, leaving wider stream buffers, retaining upland habitat patches, retaining legacy features that are relics of past forests, and placing large woody debris into small and medium fish-bearing streams to enhance aquatic habitat.
“This agreement is a great example of Port Blakely’s approach to stewardship forestry, our commitment to demonstrate that forestlands are best managed for shared economic, environmental and community benefits,” said Court Stanley, President of US Forestry for Port Blakely. “It will allow us to continue to protect and enhance fish and wildlife habitat while also ensuring long-term regulatory certainty, and therefore economic stability, for our customers, employees, and family owners.”
The Oregon Legislature authorized ODF to enter into such voluntary stewardship agreements with landowners more than a decade ago. Under such agreements, landowners agreeing to follow a written forest management plan reviewed and approved by ODF will be allowed to continue operating under that plan for a set number of years, regardless of future regulatory changes. The length of the proposed Port Blakely agreement is 50 years.
A family-owned company since the early 20th century, Port Blakely has been involved in forestry in the Pacific Northwest for five generations. The company, owns 149,000 acres of forestland in both Oregon and Washington State as well as 93,000 acres in New Zealand. In parallel to the stewardship agreement, the company reports that it is also working with federal agencies to finalize a complementary Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for this forestland. It would be the company’s third voluntary federal conservation agreement. Since 2002 the company’s U.S. forestlands have been certified through the Sustainable Forest Initiative, earning recertification every year since.
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