GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A group of Oregon State University scientists has found the strategy for protecting fish and wildlife on state forests in Oregon is not based on the best available science.
The Oregon Board of Forestry commissioned the report from the Institute for Natural Resources and will be discussing it at its meeting Friday.
The report comes as the Oregon Department of Forestry is developing on-the-ground plans to implement a decision to increase timber production by about 5 percent on state forests in the northwestern corner of the state.
Among the report’s conclusions are that the department did not base its own review of the strategy on the modern idea of landscape ecology, relying instead on an old-school approach based on the amount of older forest in a particular area.