Oregon Board of Forestry, Sept. 6

The Oregon Board of Forestry will meet in Salem on Sept.6. The meeting is open to the public and a public comment period is on the agenda. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m., and go through approximately 3:30 p.m., with an Executive Session following and scheduled to end at approximately 5 p.m. 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. Agenda items include: * 2017 Fire Season Update; * Annual Monitoring Update — Private Forests Division staff will present an update of the Monitoring Unit’s work over the previous year, focusing on preliminary results from the 2016 Compliance Audit. * Coordination to Develop Landscape-Scale Projects that Serve Private Landowners and Advance Restoration on Public Lands — Private Forests Division staff will provide an overview of programs available to family forest landowners in the context of a larger effort to leverage authorities in the Federal Forest Restoration Program and opportunities to build landscape-level projects that address multiple resource needs across ownerships. * Forest Trust Lands Advisory Committee Testimony — Testimony on state forests topics. * SB 116 — Veteran’s Access Pass Rulemaking — State Forests Division staff will present information on the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s Veteran’s Special Access Pass Program and Senate Bill 116 (2017), requiring ODF to honor this pass on state forestlands. The pass provides free camping to disabled veterans and active duty military on leave. Staff will ask for direction to begin the rule revision process for rules in Division 25 as needed to ensure effective statutory implementation. * Trask Paired Watershed Study: Background and Preliminary Findings — The Trask Paired Watershed Study is examining the effects of timber harvest on aquatic organisms and water quality in both the fishless headwaters and the downstream fish-bearing streams. Principle Investigators will present an overview of the 10-year study completed in 2016, and its preliminary findings, background, and context. * Forest Health Update — Insect and Disease Program staff will update the Board on recent trends and occurrences of forest insects, disease, and noxious weeks, focusing on efforts to detect and contain Phytophthora ramorum, the causal agent of sudden oak death, including the EU1 strain of the disease. * Urban and Community Forestry Future Challenges and Trends in Oregon and Nationwide — Urban and Community Forestry Program staff will update the Board on the program, including strategies for outreach and survival during the lack of federal funding, cultivating partnerships, invasive pests, and investing in community trees as a tool to improve forest health. * 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. Accommodations for people with disabilities, and special materials, services or assistance can be arranged by calling the Department’s Public Affairs Office at least 48 hours in advance, at 503-945-7200. The Board of Forestry consists of seven citizens nominated by the Governor and confirmed by the Oregon Senate. Responsibilities include appointing the State Forester, setting management direction for state-owned forests, adopting rules governing timber harvest and other practices on private forestland, and promoting sustainable management of Oregon’s 30 million-acre forestland base. More information about the Board is available at: www.oregon.gov/ODF/Board/Pages/AboutBOF.aspx.