For immediate release: May 28, 2025 

Contact:

Josh Laughlin, Executive Director, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463

Today, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced it has issued a required permit to the Oregon Department of State Lands in order for the recently created Elliott State Research Forest to become operational. Approval ensures Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed terrestrial wildlife found on the 83,000-acre public forest located northeast of Coos Bay are adequately protected for the next 80 years through a Habitat Conservation Plan. A similar required permit from the National Marine Fisheries Service covering ESA-listed salmon on the forest has yet to be issued.  

After over six years of advocacy and negotiation to establish the Elliott State Research Forest, conservationists welcome this next step towards implementation.  

“There are hard-fought protection measures built into the Elliott’s Habitat Conservation Plan to ensure critically imperiled species, like the marbled murrelet and northern spotted owl, are given the necessary safeguards to persist into the future,” says Josh Laughlin, Executive Director of Cascadia Wildlands. “The issuance of the permit today is one of the final steps toward this plan becoming a reality.” 

The Habitat Conservation Plan establishes a 34,000-acre protected area on the Elliott’s west side, where remining older forests will be protected and young, plantation forests will be restored to help create more complex forest structure in the future to benefit imperiled species. Smaller protected areas are strategically designated throughout the rest of the forest as well.  

Public controversy around cutting the Elliott’s remining mature and old-growth forests and short-sighted privatization efforts marred this outstanding public forest for decades. The public and conservation organizations have repeatedly pushed back against these schemes, and a new paradigm for the forest has emerged in recent years. 

“Not long ago, Oregonians successfully fought off a privatization scheme that would have resulted in the forest being clearcut and the public being locked out,” says Laughlin. “Now, we have an enduring plan in place that keeps the forest in public ownership and embraces the conservation values that Oregonians hold closely.” 

Under the newly created Elliott State Research Forest’s 80-year plan, logging will primarily be focused in young plantations forests, and a major emphasis will be placed on salmon and wildlife habitat protection, cutting-edge forest and watershed research, Tribal knowledge and involvement, recreation, education, and carbon storage to help blunt the climate crisis. 

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Additional background:  

Cascadia Wildlands and partners have successfully confronted efforts in the past to privatize the Elliott, including securing an Oregon Supreme Court victory in 2019 halting the sale of the 788-acre East Hakki Ridge parcel to the timber industry. This privatization scheme was in direct response to a successful 2012 lawsuit brought by Cascadia Wildlands and legal partners. That case halted dozens of old-growth timber sales on the Elliott, Clatsop and Tillamook state forests, where threatened marbled murrelets were nesting. 

Additionally, the State Land Board, which oversees the Elliott, advanced a plan to privatize the entire forest beginning in 2015, but that decision was reversed in 2017 after significant public opposition. Instead, the forest was maintained in public ownership after the Oregon legislature appropriated $221 million to buy-out the forest’s obligation to the Common School Fund. 

Eugene-based Cascadia Wildlands defends and restores Cascadia’s wild ecosystems in the forests, in the courts, and in the streets. The organization envisions vast old-growth forests, rivers full of wild salmon, wolves howling in the backcountry, a stable climate, and vibrant communities sustained by the unique landscapes of the Cascadia bioregion. www.cascwild.org

The post US Fish and Wildlife Service Issues Permit to Advance Oregon’s Elliott State Research Forest  first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Contact:
Josh Laughlin, Cascadia Wildlands, (541) 434-1463
Bob Sallinger, Portland Audubon
Brett Brownscombe, Wild Salmon Center
Doug Moore, Oregon League of Conservation Voters

Oregon Legislature Approves Durable Conservation Solution for Elliott State Forest

Deal Hailed as a Significant Victory for Imperiled Species, Tribal Inclusion, Old-growth Forests, Clean Water, Climate Security and School Children

SALEM, OR — Today, the Oregon House of Representatives voted 50-8 to approve SB 1546 to create the Elliott State Research Forest and appropriate $121 million to decouple the 82,500-acre forest near Coos Bay from the Common School Fund (CSF). The vote follows the Oregon Senate’s approval of the legislation 22-4 on Tuesday.

“This is the culmination of over 20 years of work to find a lasting solution for this outstanding public forest and the clean water, imperiled species habitat, and climate security that it provides,” said Josh Laughlin, Executive Director of Cascadia Wildlands. “Critically, no longer will school children in Oregon be pitted against the environment when it comes to managing this unique coastal rainforest.”

The legislation, which was the result of three years of work by a diverse advisory committee and public feedback, keeps the Elliott in public ownership through the creation of the Elliott State Research Forest Authority and will be overseen by a board of directors appointed by the State Land Board, made up of the governor, secretary of state and treasurer. Oregon State University will be vested management authority by following a research platform, as well as a Forest Management Plan and a federal Habitat Conservation plan.

“A remarkable amount of work has been done over the past three years to transcend decades of conflict and find durable solutions that truly protect the Elliott’s older forests, water quality and imperiled species such as the marbled murrelet, northern spotted owl and coastal coho, while also achieving other important community values,” said Bob Sallinger, Conservation Director for Portland Audubon Society who served on the stakeholder advisory committee. “There is much work ahead to make this new structure a success, but with the vote today, the legislature has launched the Elliott into a new era.”
 
The legislation also completes decoupling of the Elliott from the Common School Fund by appropriating $121 million. In 2017, the Oregon legislature approved $100 million to begin the decoupling process. Historically, timber sale receipts from logging old-growth forests on the Elliott were used to pump the $2.2 billion CSF, but the District Court in 2012 ruled the State of Oregon was illegally logging the Elliott due to impacts on the marbled murrelet, an imperiled seabird that nests in the Elliott’s old-growth forests, and logging was ground to a standstill. 

SB 1546 establishes durable conservation protections for the Elliott State Research Forest, including the creation of a 34,000-acre permanent reserve on its west side and smaller reserves throughout the rest of the forest; protection of 93% of the Elliott’s remaining mature and old-growth forests for imperiled species like the northern spotted owls, marbled murrelet and coastal marten; and improved streamside buffers to protect water quality and imperiled salmon. 

“This new approach to the Elliott will spotlight forest management plus research based on biodiversity, fish and wildlife recovery, and resilience to climate change,” said Brett Brownscombe of the Wild Salmon Center. “These are globally relevant issues that will play out on a nationally unique research forest on Oregon’s home turf at a critical time.”

The legislation advances collaborative partnerships, including notably with western Oregon Tribes and the incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge into the forest’s research framework. Representatives from the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, and the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde were active participants in the advisory committee that helped develop the Elliott State Research Forest proposal over the past three years.

Governor Kate Brown, Treasurer Tobias Read, other public officials and a diversity of stakeholders were instrument in the bill’s passage.

“We are grateful for the hard work that went into this historic effort,” said Doug Moore, Executive Director of Oregon League of Conservation Voters. “The governor, state treasurer and all the stakeholders put in a lot of work to get us to this incredible outcome, and this shows that we really can come together to accomplish great things for Oregon.”

Accompanying foundational documents to the Elliott State Research Forest, including a Forest Management Plan and a federal Habitat Conservation Plan, continue to be worked on and are expected to be complete in 2023. The legislation now moves to Governor Kate Brown’s desk for her signature. 

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The post Press Release: Victory for the Elliott State Forest! first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.

Cascadia Wildlands believes that this plan has the potential to end nearly two decades of conflict over the Elliott State Forest and achieve lasting conservation outcomes. However, a few significant issues remain unresolved. The following are what we view as some of the strengths, compromises and unresolved issues contained in this proposal and encourage you to weigh in through the link above during the ongoing public engagement opportunity.

Plan Strengths

• The plan protects more than 90% of the older forests (>65 years of age) in permanent reserves;
• The plan places 66% of the entire forest (54,154 acres) in permanent reserves;
• The plan creates a 30,000+ acre contiguous reserve on the westside of the Elliott representing more than 37% of the entire forest;
• The plan includes riparian buffers of 120-200 feet in any harvest areas along fish bearing streams and 50-200 feet along perennial non fish bearing streams and 200 foot buffers along the West Fork Millicoma River, significantly stronger riparian protections that provided for in the Oregon Forest Practices Act;
• The plan protects trees and stands greater than 152 years of age which predate the 1868 stand replacement fire on the Elliott;
• In 50 years, more than 70% of the Elliott will be mature forest as compared with approximately 50% today;
• The plan proposes to meaningfully engage western Oregon Tribes in various opportunities;
• The plan prohibits any spraying of herbicides in reserves and limits aerial spraying to 17% of the forest where intensive timber harvest is prescribed and only when no other alternative is practicable;
• The plan bans the use of rodenticides to kill mountain beaver and other wildlife on the Elliott;
• The plan will create the opportunity for significant ecosystem research on a wide array of important topics;
• The plan will increase opportunities for recreation on the Elliott;
• The plan is predicated on full decoupling of the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund, which will eliminate pitting school children vs. the environment;
• The plan will keep the Elliott in public ownership;
• The plan creates real potential to bring together historically antagonistic stakeholders in a new era of collaboration for the Elliott.​​​​

As with any complex plan, there are also real trade offs:

• Clearcutting will continue on approximately 14,579 acres (18% of the Elliott) and will be limited to second-growth tree farms old, would be done on 60-year rotations (as opposed to 40 years now) and would include stronger riparian buffers as noted above;
• Selective harvest will occur on 14,654 acres which includes approximately 3,200 acres of older forest (>65 years old) including some marbled murrelet occupied habitat;
• Very limited aerial spraying of herbicides (only where other methods are not practicable) will be allowed in clearcuts.

Significant Unresolved Issues that are Still in Process

Governance structure—Cascadia Wildlands and partners are committed to strong public involvement, transparency, and enforcement mechanisms as essential parts of any agreement.

Any final plan must include these elements:

• Recognition and protection of known occupied marbled murrelet sites on the forest;
• The potential to secure carbon credits;
• A Habitat Conservation Plan (which should mirror the OSU Research Forest Plan) supported by federal fish and wildlife agencies;
• Funding mechanisms to complete 100% decoupling of the Elliott State Forest from the Common School Fund. Recall in 2017, the Oregon legislature appropriated $100 million in bonding revenue to put toward to the $221 million price tag on the Elliott, and $121 million is still owed to the School Fund to complete decoupling.

Note that this plan is still being refined so numbers could shift slightly.

Please participate in this public process and upcoming informational webinars and let the State and OSU know what you think.

Thank you for helping us create a lasting solution for the Elliott State Forest!

The post Elliott State Research Forest Proposal Released — Your Comments Needed first appeared on Cascadia Wildlands.