The Board of Forestry will honor the 2017 Operators of the Year at the March 7 board meeting. The program recognizes forest operators for exemplifying forestry values and voluntarily protecting natural resources, including fish and wildlife habitat, stream buffers, and water quality. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m., and go through approximately 2:50 p.m., with an Executive Session following and scheduled to end at approximately 3:50 p.m. The meeting is open to the public and a public comment period is on the agenda. The meeting will be held in the Tillamook Room, Administration Building C, at the Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters, located at 2600 State St., in Salem. Other agenda items include: * Eastern Oregon/Siskiyou Monitoring Streamside Protections — Private Forests Division staff will present results of a tally of scientific studies and a range of monitoring questions for the Board’s decision. * Oregon Forest Protection Laws, 3rd Edition — Mike Cloughesy, Director of Forestry, Oregon Forest Resources Institute, will present this newly updated illustrated manual of Oregon’s forest protection laws, and review the changes included in in this updated edition. * Forest Practices Act 2016 Compliance Monitoring and Annual Monitoring Unit updates — Private Forests Division staff will present updates on the work of the Monitoring Unit over the previous year, including an update on the results from the Forest Practices Compliance Audit 2016 Annual Report. * State Forests Division Annual Reports — State Forests Division staff will summarize Fiscal Year 2017 accomplishments for Board of Forestry Lands and Common School Forest Lands. * Executive Session — The board will meet in executive session to confer with legal counsel regarding the board’s rights and duties related to current litigation likely to be filed pursuant to Oregon Revised Statute 192.660(2) (h). Agenda materials are available at www.oregon.gov/ODF/Board/Pages/BOFMeetings.aspx.
