Welcome to the Elliott State Forest, a 93,000-acre publicly owned forest located just inland from the mouth of the Umpqua River. This coastal rainforest offers some of the finest remaining habitat for a host of threatened and endangered species, including coho salmon, marbled murrelet and the northern spotted owl.
Surrounded by massive swaths of privately owned industrial tree farms, the public forests of the Elliott offer rare, native habitat that has never been logged. Much of the Elliott burned in 1868 as part of a 300,000 acre wildfire complex. The forest has grown back naturally since the fire with the forest nearing 150 years of age today. Residual pockets of old-growth that survived the fire, some up to 350 years old, can also be found. But currently, this forest is in jeopardy. The Oregon Department of Forestry, the state agency in charge of our Elliott State Forest, continues to auction off the rights to clearcut 500 acres of native forest to the highest bidder each year.
Clearcuts for kids?
The Elliott became the first state forest in 1930. It is named after Francis Elliott, Oregon's first state forester, who worked for many years to create the forest by trading scattered state "school fund" lands for one large block of land. Today, the forest is being sacrificed in a "clearcuts for kids" scheme and has left the Elliott a fragmented landscape. We must urge the State of Oregon to create a more balanced way to fund our public schools rather than clearcutting irreplaceable publicly owned native forest. One only has to look to the north of the Elliott to the Siuslaw National Forest where forest management is focused on controversy-free, restoration thinning in plantation stands.
Documents of interest:
1. 60-day Notice of Intent to Sue the US Fish and Wildlife Service
2. Press Release on Filing 60-day Notice
3. Slideshow of Clearcut and Threatened Areas on the Elliott by Francis Eatherington
4. Complaint to Protect Owl on Elliott State Forest (8.12.08)
