Kate Brown, Chris Edwards and Bob Van Dyk

Brown is governor of Oregon. Edwards is chairman of the Oregon Council of Forestry and Industries. Van Dyk is policy director for Oregon and California at the Wild Salmon Center.

Last week, the most comprehensive changes to Oregon’s forestry regulations in 50 years were solemnly promulgated. What’s remarkable about the Bipartisan Private Forest Accord is not just that it’s the most significant update to the Forest Practices Act since 1971, which governs the management of over of 10 million acres of private forest land, but also how the legislation came to fruition. It’s a story that represents the Oregon Way: former adversaries putting aside their differences and coming together to solve tough problems.

Under the Private Forest Accord, the timber industry and conservation groups have reached an unprecedented agreement on the most effective ways to improve the protection of aquatic habitat needed by fish and amphibians. native. These changes provide important safeguards for fishing and clean water, while providing certainty for forest landowners and economic stability for rural Oregon communities. It is based on the understanding that by basing our policy on science-based forest management, we can strike a balance between protecting the health of our forests and creating jobs and economic growth in rural communities. It’s a win-win for Oregon.

This new way forward leads Oregon out of years of stalemate over the management of private forest lands — marked by countless rounds of heated disagreements on Capitol Hill, the Forestry Council and at the local level that have led the two sides to tabled nine competing ballot measures in 2019. In early 2020, they pulled back from the abyss by dropping the measures and entering negotiations. And at a time of extraordinary division, the agreement reached by longtime adversaries signals a moment that should make all Oregonians proud.

The new legislation covers a range of actions: increasing no-harvest zones next to watercourses for shading and water filtration; improving logging roads that improve fish migration upstream; state-of-the-art computer modeling to protect landslide-prone slopes; millions of dollars of public and private investments for the creation of wildlife habitats.

But perhaps most impressive is the process of collaboration and good-faith compromise that has brought us here.

During a time of deep political divisions, 24 organizations representing two sides with a history of high-stakes conflict have put aside their differences and agreed to sit around the table, take a close look at the latest scientific advances, d to have difficult conversations and find common ground. .

The success we celebrated last week shows how opposing sides can work together on workable solutions to some of the toughest issues facing Oregonians today.

While all Oregonians should take a moment to celebrate, the job is far from done. Rules that implement these changes have yet to be approved by the Board of Forestry and must be communicated to more than 65,000 forest owners in every corner of Oregon. This will be followed by years of scientific monitoring and on-the-ground fine-tuning to ensure that the changes have the desired results that we have all set ourselves to accomplish.

The agreement also establishes a framework for future changes to forestry practices that keep the spirit of collaboration alive. This process prioritizes sound science and gives a diverse set of Oregonians a voice in how our forests are managed on an ongoing basis. This will help ensure that future generations of Oregonians can continue to enjoy Oregon-grown renewable building products, clean cold water, wildlife habitat, clean air and unique recreational opportunities. our lush Oregon forests provide.

We are proud to be part of this moment and invite all Oregonians to join us in celebrating and embracing our shared future of collaborative forestry in Oregon. Forward, together.