At the Feb. 21 Hood River County Board of Commissioners meeting, the Hood River County (HRC) Forestry Department was awarded a Letter of Commendation by the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Eastern Oregon Regional Forest Practices Committee for consistently meeting and exceeding the requirements of the Oregon Forest Practices Act.
“Your careful and conscientious efforts go above and beyond standards to protect valuable resources in Oregon,” reads the award. “Your professionalism, integrity, and sincere concern for the land, are of the highest quality and garner deep respect within the landowner community and the Oregon Department of Forestry.
“The extra care you and your staff invest in all projects is a true testimony to your commitment to your community, and to quality management of natural resources in the region and the State of Oregon.”
“A large part of my job is overseeing forest operations on private, non-federal land, in Wasco and Hood River County; including forest operations that occur on Hood River County forestland,” said Chet Behling, stewardship forester for the Department of Forestry. “I’ve worked in the area for about six years, and in that time frame, not only is the county meeting the minimum standards set by the Forest Practices Act, but they are exceeding them as a general rule.”
The HRC Forestry Department often goes above and beyond to assure streams and other riparian areas have added protection during timber harvests, he said. They design, build, and maintain forest roads in a fashion that provides slope stability and minimizes the potential for sediment to enter adjacent streams and promptly reforest harvested areas to regenerate a new stand of trees to provide for future generations.
The HRC Forestry Department has also enhanced their program by implementing a county-wide sanitation/salvage harvest strategy that is targeted at selectively removing unhealthy trees and has been pro-active at removing affected ponderosa pine trees that have become subject to the recent California Five-Spined Ips beetle outbreak. They have completed a comprehensive forest management plan that addresses economic, environmental, and social values, completed several land transitions to block-up ownership and add more forestland acres to the program, and just recently became a member of a seed co-op where genetically improved seed will be used to grow a more robust and resilient seeding that is expected to enhance reforestation success and a yield greater economic return in future years.
Commented