Revised State Policies Protect Marbled Murrelet, Lead to Settlement in Lawsuit, Feb. 6

Statement from the Oregon Department of Forestry: * The Elliott State Forest is part of trust lands that, by state constitutional mandate, are focused on generating money for Oregon public schools, consistent with sound natural resource management. * About 90 percent of the Elliott is an asset of the Common School Fund, overseen by the State Land Board. The Oregon Department of Forestry manages this and other forest acreage on behalf of the Board and Department of State Lands. * Before the lawsuit was filed in 2012, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) followed policies to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA), under which the marbled murrelet is listed as a threatened species, and to meet the financial mandate. * The policies were developed through discussion with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is charged with administering the ESA in the case of the murrelet. * In mid-2013, ODF enhanced its marbled murrelet protections through a new set of new operational policies, including larger buffer areas around murrelet sites. * At the same time, ODF cancelled or modified 28 timber sales that were not consistent with the new policies – 23 in the Elliott State Forest, the rest in the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests. * In September 2013, the state filed a motion with the court asserting that the case was now moot, which led to the case’s settlement. >GOING FORWARD – * Harvests on the Elliott State Forest, previously planned at about 40 million board feet per year, are now expected to be closer to 15 million board feet. * ODF has initiated a review of science related to the marbled murrelet to help inform the best long-term plans and strategies. The Department also continues to seek technical guidance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on harvest-related activities in state forests. * Management of state-owned forests – over 800,000 of Oregon’s 30 million forested acres – remains a constantly evolving process, seeking to provide a range of economic, social and environmental benefits as the applicable laws require. * Leadership of ODF and the Department of State Lands are working actively with the State Land Board to chart a future for the forest that meets environmental as well as economic needs. >ABOUT THE ELLIOTT STATE FOREST – The 93,000-acre forest is in Oregon’s southern Coast Range near Reedsport. About 90 percent of the acreage is Common School Fund land, overseen by the State Land Board (the Governor, Secretary of State and Treasurer) and managed by ODF through an agreement with the Department of State Lands. The forest was established in 1930 by consolidating scattered school trust land, granted to Oregon when it became a state, into a single block.