Forest Grove, Forestry, ODF

Two Oregon Department of Forestry committees meeting soon in Forest Grove

ODF offices in Forest Grove. Photo: Chas Hundley

FOREST GROVE – Two different advisory groups to the Oregon Department of Forestry are holding public meetings close to home this week. The State Forests Advisory Committee will meet at the ODF offices in Forest Grove on Friday, October 25 at 8:30 a.m., while the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee will meet Wednesday, October 30 at 9 a.m. in the same location. 

The Forest Grove District ODF offices are located at 801 NW Gales Creek Road in Forest Grove.

At the State Forests Advisory Committee meeting, members will hear updates on the ODF Annual Operations Plan and other state forest issues, including the forestry agency’s public engagement strategy, updates on recreation in Oregon’s state forests, the Habitat Conservation Plan, and more. 

A full agenda can be found by visiting www.oregon.gov/ODF/Board/Pages/SFAC.aspx.

The State Forests Advisory Committee (SFAC) is made up of representatives of timber, environmental and recreation groups, private citizens, members of local watershed councils, and tribal and county representatives.  

At the Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee meeting, updates on projects such as reforestation, wildlife food plot rules, fish passage requirements and more will be heard.

At both meetings, which are open to the public, members of the public will be given an opportunity to comment; for the SFAC meeting, public comment is scheduled for 12:15 p.m., for the NW Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee meeting, that’s scheduled near the beginning of the meeting, according to a press release from ODF. 

The Northwest Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee is one of three such citizen-led panels in the state, mandated by state law under the 1971 Oregon Forest Practices Act. The other two serve the Eastern and Southwest portions of the state. 

Under Oregon law, a majority of committee members must be private forest landowners or logging or forest operations companies.

Regional Forest Practices Committees are panels of citizens – mandated under Oregon law – that advise the Oregon Board of Forestry on current forestry issues and forest management approaches. Three Regional Forest Practices Committees, serving the Eastern, Northwest and Southwest regions of the state, were created by the 1971 Oregon Forest Practices Act. Under Oregon law, a majority of the committees’ members must be private forest landowners and logging or forest operations companies.

More information and a full agenda is available on the Oregon Department of Forestry’s web site at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Board/Pages/RFPC.aspx.

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Chas Hundley is the editor of the Banks Post and sister news publications the Gales Creek Journal and the Salmonberry Magazine. He grew up in Gales Creek and has a cat.

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