Reforestation after harvest is required by Oregon law...but does your neighbor know?

via OFRI: Values and Beliefs survey

Oregonians are more concerned about reforestation, water quality and jobs than other forest issues. Those are just some of the top findings from research conducted this spring for OFRI and the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Every four years, OFRI conducts opinion research to learn what people know and don’t know about Oregon’s forests and forestry practices. Since its creation in 1991, OFRI relies on these studies to help develop its educational programs. It also uses the information to gauge the impact of OFRI’s landowner and public outreach programs.

The new research finds that six in 10 respondents believe Oregon law requires private forestland owners to replant trees after harvest. However, about one in three say they don’t know whether replanting is mandatory. Few people gave any landowner groups high performance ratings, but federal land managers suffered the lowest grades.

"The relatively low percentage of Oregonians who do not know for certain that Oregon law requires replanting after harvest underscores the importance of OFRI's public education mission,” says Paul Barnum, OFRI executive director. “We simply cannot do enough to tell Oregonians that replanting is the law in this state, and that landowners' performance is very high in this regard.”

After replanting, water and jobs, the top forest-rated concerns are wildfires, wildlife habitat, forests being converted to non-forest uses, and clearcutting. While most people share similar concerns statewide, dry-side Oregonians are more concerned about forest jobs and wildfire. Wet-side Oregon residents are more concerned about water quality.

The telephone survey reached 1,000 residents in a representative cross-section of ages, genders, education levels and regions (Portland metro area, western Oregon and eastern Oregon).

A full report on the research findings will be presented to the OFRI board in June.