Oregon's Timber Sector Navigates Private Forest Accord Rules

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Oregon's timber industry, a cornerstone employing around 20,000 workers, is adapting to sweeping changes under the Private Forest Accord, a 2022 agreement between industry leaders, conservation groups and the state. Signed after negotiations involving the Oregon Forest Industries Council and organizations like Oregon Wild, the accord prompted three bills that updated the Oregon Forest Practices Act (FPA), the nation's first such law enacted in 1971. Key updates include doubled no-harvest zones along fish-bearing streams for shade and filtration, forest road upgrades to aid fish migration, and state-of-the-art modeling for landslide risks on hillsides.

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), which enforces the FPA on non-federal lands, reports operators must now leave at least two logs per acre — each at least 10 cubic feet — post-harvest to support amphibians, birds and fungi. Reforestation mandates require planting within two years of harvest, with 100-200 trees per acre achieving "free-to-grow" status within six years, depending on site productivity. These rules, rolling out through 2024 per Senate Bill 1602 and related legislation, stem from science-driven input by professional foresters and aim to modernize protections for water, fish and wildlife while providing "operational certainty" for rural economies in counties like Coos and Douglas.

Tensions persist with federal lands: In January 2026, a federal judge struck down the U.S. Forest Service's decades-old CE-6 categorical exclusion, ruling it unlawful after a 2022 lawsuit by Oregon Wild, WildEarth Guardians and Green Oregon Alliance. The decision halted three thinning projects spanning 29,000 acres in the Fremont-Winema National Forest without environmental reviews, highlighting contrasts with state-regulated private forests covering most of Oregon's timber harvest. Industry groups like Oregon Forests Forever praise the accord for sustaining softwood lumber production, while conservationists push for further old-growth safeguards.