Habitat Conservation Plan: Help Make HISTORY in Oregon’s State Forests

Please write a short letter 
to the ODF Board of Forestry 
 before October 2, 2020 to let them know that the residents of coastal forest communities support their Habitat Conservation Plan.


>>> Submit comments online HERE <<<

Here are some basic facts and talking points about the Habitat Conservation Plan:

• The Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) would create forest set asides for nearly HALF of the state forest lands managed by ODF west of the Cascades. We are talking: 640,000 acres. Six Hundred Forty Thousand Acres!
• The Habitat Conservation Areas would be managed for conservation purposesand for endangered species. This means no logging or spraying in 640,000 acres.
• The HCP is a compromise, and creates certainty and stability for all involved parties. Funding for schools and rural counties would be stabilizd because thre would be no endangered species lawsuits that shut down forest lands.
• The next critical stage is the October 6th Board of Forestry meeting where a vote will happen to approve the next step, which is submission of an environmental impact statement to the feds. Deadline for comments to be considered in the meeting is October 2nd (although they will accept and account for letters received up to two weeks after the October 6th meeting).
• The importance of input from coastal and smaller communities is critical. We need to talk this up with friends, families, and neighbors. We need letters and testimony from our communities supporting the HCP. We need ODF to hear the concerns of people and families that live with the impacts of their decisions.
• Finally, we want to remind ODF that they should consider assigning Habitat Conservation Areas to our drinking water sources. If ODF is willing set aside hundreds of thousands of acres, then those area should include our communities' endangered drinking water as well.

Further Reading

Background and Key Points from Wild Salmon Center

Maps of Proposed Habitat Conservation Areas

Oregon Department of Forestry Webpage on HCP

Map of All Forests Covered by this Plan

Contact

Please contact Jordan Gulaskey of North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection with any questions: [email protected]