A resolution by the Oregon Logging Conference Regarding the Modernization of the Northwest Forest Plan.
WHEREAS, the Northwest Forest Plan, adopted in 1994, was designed to provide a predictable and sustainable level of timber harvests on federal lands in western Oregon, Washington, and northern California while conserving habitat for the Northern Spotted Owl and other species; and
WHEREAS, more than thirty years later, the Northwest Forest Plan has not fulfilled its commitments for sustainable timber outputs, with many National Forests unable to meet their Allowable Sale Quantity targets, resulting in unstable timber supplies for mills, logging contractors, and the thousands of rural workers who rely on a functional federal timber program; and
WHEREAS, according to information presented by the Douglas Timber Operators, timber harvest levels on the Umpqua National Forest have declined from more than three hundred million board feet per year prior to the 1990s to approximately twenty five million board feet today, a level that supplies local mills for only a matter of days and contributes to the ongoing economic hardship faced by rural communities in southwest Oregon; and
WHEREAS, during this same period, severe wildfire has dramatically increased across the Northwest Forest Plan region, with more than 44% of the Umpqua National Forest burning since 1987, much of it in Late Successional Reserves, demonstrating that current land allocations have failed to protect older forests or wildlife habitat from catastrophic loss; and
WHEREAS, the United States Forest Service has reported that wildfire is now the leading cause of mature and old growth forest loss on federal lands within the Northwest Forest Plan area, far exceeding any impacts associated with timber harvest; and
WHEREAS, outdated land use allocations, standards, and guidelines established in the original Northwest Forest Plan have constrained active forest management at a time when scientific evidence overwhelmingly supports an increased pace and scale of thinning, fuels reduction, and forest restoration to protect communities, watersheds, wildlife habitat, and the remaining mature and old growth forests that the Plan was intended to conserve; and
WHEREAS, the 2025 Draft Environmental Impact Statement evaluating amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan acknowledges the need for expanded active forest management and increased treatment acreage, yet longstanding obstacles within the existing Plan continue to limit the Forest Service’s ability to implement these treatments across the landscape in a timely and effective manner; and
WHEREAS, many rural counties within the Northwest Forest Plan region depend on federal timber receipts to fund essential services including law enforcement, emergency response, transportation infrastructure, public health, libraries, and schools, and the failure of the Plan to provide reliable timber revenues has contributed to decades of economic instability and reduced public services; and
WHEREAS, federal land management policies should promote a stable and predictable supply of domestically produced timber to sustain the nation’s forest products workforce, manufacturing capacity, and supply chain, particularly as global markets increasingly turn to wood products as renewable, carbon storing building materials; and
WHEREAS, President Donald J. Trump’s Executive Orders on domestic timber and lumber production, signed March 1, 2025, direct federal agencies to increase active forest management, expand timber outputs, and revise policies that hinder the Forest Service’s ability to meet national objectives for forest health and timber production, directives that should be reflected in any modernization of the Northwest Forest Plan; and
WHEREAS, modernization of the Northwest Forest Plan must incorporate three decades of scientific advancements in wildfire behavior, forest ecology, carbon dynamics, watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and active management, while also integrating Tribal knowledge and strengthening partnerships with local communities; and
WHEREAS, the Oregon Logging Conference recognizes that the health of federal forests and the vitality of rural communities are inseparable, and that a modernized Northwest Forest Plan is essential to protecting both.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Oregon Logging Conference calls upon the United States Forest Service, the Department of Agriculture, and the Administration to undertake a comprehensive modernization and reform of the Northwest Forest Plan, incorporating the best available science, the lessons of the past thirty years, and the urgent need to restore forest health, reduce wildfire risk, and strengthen rural communities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that modernization of the Northwest Forest Plan should provide stable and sustainable timber outputs to support local mills and family wage jobs, expand active forest management to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire severity, improve forest resiliency and watershed protection, enhance the stability of county revenues dependent on federal timber receipts, reflect federal direction to increase domestic timber and lumber production, and prioritize collaboration with Tribes, local governments, forest workers, and affected communities.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that copies of this resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Chief of the United States Forest Service, the Regional Forester for Region Six, and Oregon’s congressional delegation.