OHA to weigh in on Blue Mountains Forest Plan

The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a revision to the Blue Mountains Forest Plan and offered three alternatives for consideration:

Alternative 1 (no change) proposes continuing management under the existing 1990 Forest Plans and subsequent amendments.

Alternative 2 replaces the 1990 plan with a new framework focused on restoring forest resilience through active management. It provides flexibility for vegetation treatments, prescribed fire, and timber harvest to improve forest health and restore desired forest conditions. This plan does not create fixed diameter limit for protecting large trees. It also updates riparian management, wildlife habitat direction, recreation management, grazing standards, and monitoring programs. Under Alternative 2, current designated roadless acres will be opened if the 2001 Roadless Rule rescission is upheld.

Alternative 3 similarly prioritizes active management, but incorporates additional protections, such as permanently establishing the Inventoried Roadless Areas regardless of future changes to the national Roadless Rule. It also recommends approximately 34,000 acres of new Wilderness across the Malheur, Umatilla, and Wallowa-Whitman National Forests. This alternative limits the harvest of large trees based on a diameter at breast height (DBH) of 21 or 30 inches, depending on species, and provides additional vegetation protections in riparian areas.

“We are reviewing the draft (Environmental Impact Statement) and are working to ensure the Blue Mountains Forest Plan prioritizes our deer and elk herds, their habitat quality and security, which impacts their availability to hunters in the fall,” said Tyler Dungannon, OHA Conservation Director. “It’s important that we cut trees and open the forest canopy so light hits the forest floor, which will improve forage quality for deer and elk. It’s also imperative that open roads don’t cover the landscape. Without secure acreage on public lands, elk will leave. OHA is working to balance road access with habitat security to retain elk on public land where they are desired.”

A public comment period was opened July 2 and lasts until Sept. 30. To review a draft environmental impact statement and for information on how to comment, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/umatilla/planning/blue-mountains-forest-plan-revision