Forests

View of the Cascade Range from BLM's Mt. Horeb. Photo by John Craig, BLM.

The BLM forest lands in Oregon and Washington are administered under two management programs. One is for the Oregon & California (O&C) lands in western Oregon. The other is for public domain lands which are mostly in eastern Oregon and Washington. The BLM manages 2.4 million acres of forests and woodlands in western Oregon, including 2.2 million acres of commercial forest and 200,000 acres of woodlands.

The Northwest Forest Plan (NFP) is designed to be a balanced, long-term management plan providing a stable supply of timber and protection of fish and wildlife habitat for 22.1 million acres of federal forest in western Oregon, western Washington, and northern California (2.7 million acres of BLM-administered forests and 19.4 million acres of Forest Service-administered forest). See the BLM's previous Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Reports (PDF) for work completed during each fiscal year.

• 1997 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 1998 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 1999 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2000 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2001 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2002 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2003 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2004 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2005 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2006 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)
• 2007 Northwest Forest Plan Accomplishment Report (PDF)

Some of the most productive forests in the world are managed by the BLM in western Oregon. The objectives of the O&C program are to manage for a sustained yield of forest products and qualities needed to contribute to the economic stability of local communities, and continuing forest values and health. The 1994 Northwest Forest Plan and the six 1995 Western Oregon Resource Management Plans provide management guidance for management of federal forest lands in western Oregon. See the O&C Counties Historical Information page for additional information.

Intermixed with grasslands and shrubsteppe in eastern Oregon and Washington are ponderosa pine, juniper, and white fir forests. On public domain lands, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 requires public lands and resources to be managed under the principles of multiple use and sustained yield, without impairment of the productivity of the land and the quality of the environment, and with recognition of the nation's need for timber from the public lands.

The BLM reforests areas after timber harvest and natural disturbances such as wildland fires, insect infestations, and wind and rain events. Forest development includes site preparation (such as prescribed burning, thinning, and fertilization), tree planting, and seeding. The BLM's four seed orchards raise native species for reforestation and replanting in Western Oregon.

Our nation's forests and rangelands are at risk. An estimated 190 million acres of federal forests and rangelands in the United States, an area twice the size of California, face high risk of catastrophic fire. Decades of an accumulation of dense undergrowth and brush, along with drought conditions, insect infestation and disease, and invasion by exotic species, make forests and rangelands in many areas throughout the country vulnerable to environmentally destructive wildfires.

In August of 2002, President Bush stood on a blackened hillside in Oregon and announced his Healthy Forests Initiative to improve the health of our nation's forests and rangelands. Since then, the Bush Administration has taken a series of actions to expedite high-priority fuel-reduction and forest restoration projects in our nation's forests and rangelands. The primary goal of the projects is to reduce the fire danger and return our forests and rangelands to a healthier state.