(Note map at following URL shows locations of salmon anchor habitats.)

http://www.odf.state.or.us/divisions/resource_policy/public_affairs/news_releases/SalmonAnchorHabitatMap/sahdisplay8x11.pdf

April 3, 2003

For Release April 12, 2003

Contact:

Jim Myron, Governor’s Office, 503-378-3589 x835

Joe Whitworth, Oregon Trout 503-222-9091 x11

Jeff Foreman, Dept. Forestry, 503-945-7506

Ann Snyder, Dept. Fish & Wildlife, 503-872-5264

Gov. Ted Kulongoski today praised two state agencies and the region’s oldest wild fish conservation group for their innovative plan to strengthen salmon habitat protection while continuing revenue-producing timber harvests.

The state departments of Forestry and Fish and Wildlife worked with Oregon Trout to find ways to boost protection for salmon habitat on specially identified areas in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests. A balance also was struck to maintain adequate timber harvest levels on these public-owned forestlands.

“This is an excellent example of state agencies reaching out to a key conservation group to arrive at a winning solution,” Kulongoski said. “This cooperative effort is good for the environment and good for the economy.”

The 10-year plan - called “Salmon Anchor Habitats Strategy for Northwest Oregon State Forests” - is part of ODF’s plan to implement the over-arching principles and strategies of the landscape plan for state forests in northwest Oregon, approved by the Board of Forestry in January 2001.

Acting ODF State Forester Roy Woo approved the district implementation plans in March after a Board of Forestry meeting where members discussed the plans and indicated they generally favored the direction and details outlined in the plans.

Designed for a 10-year period, the implementation plans assess the current status of each ODF district’s forest; they project a desired future forest condition; and they identify the management activities to move these forests to that intended condition.

“We want to express our appreciation to ODFW and Oregon Trout for their cooperative spirit in developing a salmon anchor habitat approach that recognizes the need to achieve the greatest permanent value for state forests,” Woo said. “This project successfully focuses on achieving a balance of environmental, economic and social benefits - consistent with the goals and objectives for state-owned forestland - that Oregonians expect from these lands.”

While salmon habitat receives added protection, harvest levels on state forestland in the Tillamook and Clatsop state forests will stay within the range (135-223 million board feet a year) specified in district implementation plans. This is important for counties and schools.

"Counties - especially rural counties - depend on timber-harvest revenue to provide needed services,” Tillamook County Commissioner Tim Josi said. “Giving up harvestable timber in these special habitat areas is difficult, but we recognize there are things to be learned and confirmed from this 10-year study."

The salmon anchor habitat (SAH) strategy is seen as a way to provide site-specific habitat protection to those streams that have the highest historic use by salmon while the larger landscape approach develops more habitat over time. The strategy is consistent with recommendations from an independent scientific team that reviewed the Northwest Oregon State Forest Management Plan.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife worked with ODF and Oregon Trout to identify 17 key basins in the northwest state forests. These basins rose to the top because they historically showed the strongest salmon runs and the highest quality habitat.

The basins - in areas of generally high concentrations of state-owned forest land - represent about 155,000 acres. Of that, about 15,000 acres are riparian management areas directly along streams.

"The Salmon Anchor Habitat strategy agreement is a good example of how a group of public and private partners can work together in the spirit of the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds to develop a solution that meets multiple objectives," said ODFW Director Lindsay Ball. "It is a science-based approach that supports the state's habitat conservation goals, while at the same time promoting economic development."

Oregon Trout, a statewide conservation group that protects and restores native fish and their habitats, helped ODF and ODFW craft the final form and details of the approach. Aquatic (water) and riparian (stream side) strategies were expanded to strengthen protection measures in the 17 basins.

Citing benefits to water quality, spawning and juvenile-rearing habitat, Joe Whitworth, Executive Director of Oregon Trout, explained that this is a big win for wild fish. But he also noted that the agreement may hold even greater significance for Oregon and its natural resource questions - questions that are often politically charged.

“To our knowledge, the protections in these 17 basins create the first network of freshwater fish refuges in the American West,” Whitworth said. “But more than that, this lays out an initial framework for a statewide conservation plan that can ultimately move Oregon beyond conflict and to a place where jobs and conservation co-exist. This represents a pioneering agreement that befits our state.”

The plan’s monitoring provisions will allow the opportunity to assess the plan as it is put into place on the ground, and refine management guidelines where necessary. “A lot of good learning will come of this,” Whitworth added.

SAH strategies for these basins focus on:

· Applying aquatic and riparian standards with additional margins of protection, such as increased no-harvest areas (100 feet) along all fish-bearing and larger non-fish-bearing streams, and expanded no-cut or leave-tree requirements when clearcut harvesting occurs in the vicinity of small non-fish-bearing streams.

· Reviewing all harvest operations and road construction and improvement by a geotechnical specialist for high landslide hazard locations and risk to streams. Clearcut operations and roads must avoid high landslide hazard locations that pose the greatest risk to streams.

· Minimizing risk of sediment delivery from roads or unstable slopes by ensuring that roads are well constructed and maintained, expediting road repairs, basing road use on limited-precipitation weather, and restricting new roads.

· Completing watershed analyses in five years to assure the most current and complete information is available to enhance monitoring and adaptive management decisions.

· Monitoring salmon populations, habitat development and the effects of harvesting operations over time to identify a working balance between fish and forest health for the long-term.

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