Current through Register Vol. 63, No. 9, September 1, 2024
(1)
In managing forest lands as provided in OAR
629-035-0020,
the State Forester shall develop Forest Management Plans, based on the best
available science, that establish the general management framework for the
planning area of forest land. The Board may review, modify, or terminate a plan
at any time; however the Board shall review the plans no less than every ten
years. The State Forester shall develop implementation and operations plans for
forest management plans that describe smaller-scale, more specific management
activities within the planning area.
(2) Forest Management Plans must contain the
following elements:
(a) Guiding principles,
that include legal mandates and Board of Forestry policies. Taken together,
these principles shall guide development of the management plan.
(b) Description and assessment of the
resources on state forest lands within the planning area and consideration of
the surrounding ownership in order to provide a landscape context. The
description and assessment includes general statements of the current
conditions of each of the resources, and the laws, policies, and programs that
affect the resources and their management.
(c) Forest resource management goals, which
are statements of what the State Forester intends to achieve for each forest
resource within the planning area consistent with OAR
629-035-0020.
(d) Management strategies, which describe how
the State Forester will manage the forest resources in the planning area to
achieve the goals articulated in the plan. The strategies shall identify
management techniques the State Forester may use to achieve the goals of the
plan during the implementation phase of the plan.
(e) General guidelines for asset management,
which provide overall direction on investments, marketing, and
expenses.
(f) General guidelines
for implementation, monitoring, research, and adaptive management. The
guidelines shall describe:
(A) The process for
implementing Forest Management Plans;
(B) The approach for determining whether the
strategies are meeting the goals of the Forest Management Plans; and
(C) The process for determining the validity
of the assumptions used in developing the strategies.
(3) The State Forester shall be
guided by the following stewardship principles in developing and implementing
Forest Management Plans:
(a) The plans shall
include strategies that provide for actively managing forest land in the
planning area.
(b) The plans shall
include strategies that:
(A) Contribute to
biological diversity of forest stand types and structures at the landscape
level and over time:
(i) through application
of silvicultural techniques that provide a variety of forest conditions and
resources; and
(ii) through
conserving and maintaining genetic diversity of forest tree
species.
(B) Manage
forest conditions to result in a high probability of maintaining and restoring
properly functioning aquatic habitats for salmonids, and other native fish and
aquatic life, and protecting, maintaining, and enhancing native wildlife
habitats, recognizing that forests are dynamic and that the quantity and
quality of habitats for species will change geographically and over
time.
(C) Provide for healthy
forests by:
(i) managing forest insects and
diseases through an integrated pest management approach; and
(ii) utilizing appropriate genetic sources of
forest tree seed and tree species in regeneration programs.
(D) Maintain or enhance long-term forest soil
productivity.
(E) Comply with all
applicable provisions of ORS
496.171 to
496.192 and 16 USC §
1531 to 1543 (1982 & supp 1997) concerning state and federally listed threatened
and endangered species.
(c) The plans shall include strategies that
maintain and enhance forest productivity by:
(A) Producing sustainable levels of timber
consistent with protecting, maintaining, and enhancing other forest
resources.
(B) Applying management
practices to enhance timber yield and value, while contributing to the
development of a diversity of habitats for maintaining salmonids and other
native fish and wildlife species.
(d) The plans shall include strategies that
utilize the best scientific information available to guide forest resource
management actions and decisions by:
(A)
Using monitoring and research to generate and utilize new information as it
becomes available.
(B) Employing an
adaptive management approach to ensure that the best available knowledge is
acquired and used efficiently and effectively in forest resource management
programs.
(4)
The Board shall review and may revise the forest management plan developed by
the State Forester to ensure that it is consistent with OAR
629-035-0020.
(5) The Board's approval of the plan
represents its determination that activities carried out or allowed by the
State Forester under subsection (6) of this section meet the obligation to
secure the greatest permanent value to the state as defined in OAR
629-035-0020.
(6) Once the management plan is approved by
the Board as provided in subsection (5) of this section:
(a) The Board shall adopt the plan as an
administrative rule.
(b) The State
Forester shall implement the plan through more specific, small scale or time
limited plans that are consistent with the Forest Management Plan.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 526.016(4)
Stats. Implemented: ORS 530.010 - ORS
530.050
