PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Oregon lawmakers passed legislation on March 4 that approved an initiative to convert the Elliott State Forest in Southwest Oregon to a research forest that will be managed by Oregon State University.
The land, which consists of 82,520 acres in Douglas and Coos counties, will now be known as the Elliott State Research Forest. The decision to pass Senate Bill 1546 converts the state forest into a research forest and states that with the approval of the OSU Board of Trustees, it will be managed by the university.
The process has been years in the making and Shannon Murray, OSU’s program director for the Elliott State Research Forest, said she’s looking forward to this next step.
“So many people have already devoted so much time and energy into figuring out how we get to this stage and we’re at such an exciting milestone, and so much work left to do for all of us, but, it’s really incredible just to see where we’ve gotten,” she said.
The bill allows for the creation of an independent state entity that would own and have fiscal responsibility for the forest. Oregon State University would contract with the entity to conduct research and manage the forest.
Oregon State University says its board of trustees has until July 1, 2023 to authorize the university’s role as forest manager.
Murray said right now, the university is in the process of developing the forest management plan and that several things, like the Habitat Conservation Plan, need to be achieved by that July 1, 2023 date. After that, the act becomes operative on Jan. 1, 2024 and the Elliott State Research Forest, as a whole, will officially exist.
The bill also severs the forest’s link to timber production for the Common School Fund. In the past, the state of Oregon logged the Elliott State Forest to raise revenue for the Common School Fund.
The state had originally considered selling the Elliott State Forest land to meet its revenue obligation to the Common School Fund, but decided in 2017 to not follow through with that plan and to instead keep the land public. SB 1546 compensates the school fund for the forest.
Katy Kavanagh, associate dean of research in the OSU College of Forestry, said the university’s earliest research in the forest will start with determining the forest’s initial conditions. This is essential information that will allow OSU to track how the forest changes over time. It will also allow researchers to create models to predict changes in the forest and then test to see how accurate their models are.
“That’s a really important phase in any long term research is really getting good baseline data, so you can understand when the departure occurs. That’s probably what we’ll start with,” she said.
Murray said scientists will also work to get a better understanding of fire history in the Elliott and the surrounding area. She said having foundational knowledge to build on will be important as scientists advance their research on wildfire and climate change.
KOIN 6 News asked Kavanagh and Murray if they were concerned about the public having access to the forest while important research is conducted within it. Both said they feel public access and recreation are key factors of the forest and will play into the research that will be conducted.
Kavanagh said she’s worked on several research projects throughout her decades-long career and many have been accessible to the public and it hasn’t been an issue.
“I never had a member of the public, you know, mess with any instrumentation or any equipment,” she said. “By and large, actually, having a public presence often helps prevent some potential other problems that can crop up if people aren’t present.”
She said the public should be aware that the university might collect data to track how many visitors go in and out of the forest, where they go when they’re in it and how they spend their time.
Both Kavanagh and Murray hope the public sees the value of the research that can eventually be done with the forest. They said it allows scientists an opportunity to do research at a scale they’ve never been able to before and will allow their research to extend over a long period of time, without worrying about a change in ownership or policies.
“We need to understand the forest, understand the impacts we have on it when we make decisions, and this is an opportunity to do that,” Kavanagh said.
She said overall, all parties involved in the forest have a goal of bringing people together. She said she’s proud of the collaborative work that went into reaching this step for the forest.
Murray said OSU understands education and outreach will be a big part of the vision for the forest moving forward and hopes the public sees the opportunity to learn from the programs that will be set up there.
“It’s really incredible just to see where we’ve gotten from many different points of view and perspectives, and I hope that that creates just a really strong foundation for us all to continue working together on this,” she said.
Kavanagh said she’s glad this bill received support from both Democrats and Republicans and said that goes to show that the forest represents something special to everyone.
The bill will allow for long term research to study forest management practices, ecosystem function, biodiversity, habitat conservation, water quality and quantity, carbon sequestration, rural livelihoods and resilience of forests to the impacts of climate change.