Elliott State Forest

Elliott State Forest

EXPLORING AN ELLIOTT STATE RESEARCH FOREST

The Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) and Oregon State University (OSU) continue working collaboratively to explore transforming the Elliott State Forest into a publicly owned state research forest.

Senate Bill 1546, passed by the Oregon Legislature in March 2022, legally established the Elliott State Research Forest and formation of an independent public agency to oversee it — The Elliott State Research Forest Authority. The bill also established specific requirements regarding timeline, expectations for public accountability and transparency, and mandated the Elliott’s ongoing contributions to conservation, economic growth, recreation, education and forest research.

DSL and state leaders are in the process of seeking an amended timeline via Senate Bill 161 to allow for additional review of DSL’s draft Habitat Conservation Plan and related work on the ESRF financial analysis. This additional review will help ensure that DSL’s proposed conservation measures meet federal conservation and species protection requirements, and provide additional time for OSU’s draft Forest Management Plan to be adjusted, as necessary, to align with any updates to the HCP.

Additional updates will be shared as they are available.

Happening Now 

Upcoming Prospective Board Meetings

  • Tuesday, June 6, Time/Location TBD
  • Monday, July 24, Time/Location TBD
  • Wednesday, August 16, Time/Location TBD
  • Friday, September 22, Time/Location TBD

Meeting details including zoom link, meeting agenda and additional materials will be available on the Department of State Lands ESRF page, a week prior to the meeting. 

 

Upcoming Listening Sessions

Information about future listening sessions will be posted as soon as they are scheduled.  View information from past listening sessions at the Forest Manamgement Plan page.

 

Workgroup Meetings
During the FMP development process, subgroups of the advisory committee have met to discuss specific topics related to plan development. Workgroup meeting notes, including links to meeting videos when available, are here. As the advisory committee has now completed its work, OSU and DSL are working directly with members of the ESRFA prospective board in this capacity.

INFORMATION FROM PAST FMP MEETING AND LISTENING SESSIONS