» State forest awaits the OK from feds

State agencies are close to a decision on how they will manage the Elliott State Forest. What they decide could mean more money for schools and local timber companies.

“That would be a boost to everybody,” said Bob Ragon, executive director for Douglas Timber Operators, said. “It would be good news all around.”

However, agencies can’t agree with federal oversight groups about what those management practices should involve.

The State Land Board, which owns most of the 93,000 acres of forest east of Reedsport, is expected to make a management decision on Feb. 9.

“The board will be deciding whether to continue trying to come up with a revised plan or go with some other plan that would not involve agreement with federal services,” Oregon Department of Forestry Coos District Forester Jim Young said. ODF manages the forest.

The State Land Board and ODF have developed a revised habitat conservation plan to increase timber sales by more than one third — all of the net revenue generated goes to the state Common School Fund. But after almost a decade of negotiating terms, the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service still have not approved its protection policies for the marbled murrelet and coho salmon. Both species are listed with federal agencies as threatened or endangered species

Without the feds’ approval, ODF would have to survey the species for two years before each timber sale. About 25 percent of timber sales could potentialy affect murrelet habitat. The previous federal permit expired in 2001. There is a federal plan in place until 2055 for northern spotted owls, also a threatened species.

But the board could choose to abandon that permit, too, going instead with the newest revised habitat conservation plan.

One sticking point in negotiations, Young said, is streams. The two agencies do not agree on the extent of thinning that can be done near streams and still protect water quality.

“The National Marine Fisheries Service has a different interpretation of science on the habitat conservation strategies,” Young said. “But they essentially have the final say whether the plan is approved.”

Ragon said, while timber operators do surveys for endangered species and work closely with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, most don’t have federal agreements.

“What ODF wants to do is no different than what the timber industry does,” Ragon said.

Over the past 10 years, Elliott harvests have produced about $14 million a year on average.

But, according to ODF, there is considerably more timber available than is being harvested. The forest is growing about 75 million board feet of timber per year, while the harvest level has averaged 27 million board feet a year. With the new management plan, harvest levels would shoot to 40 million board feet a year.

In 2009, the agency clearcut 500 acres and thinned another 400, which is less than 1 percent of the acreage.

“We fully support them bringing harvest levels up,” Ragon said. “That’s what they were in the ’80s and early ’90s.”