Why It Matters: The proposed silvicultural treatments will improve forest structure diversity across the landscape, which is critical to increasing forest resiliency to wildfire and other forest health threats. Healthy forests provide habitat for wildlife, clean and abundant water for fish and communities, and access for outdoor recreation.
Highlights:
- On November 21, the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) submitted a letter in support of the Snowy Butte Landscape Restoration Project on the High Cascade Ranger District of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon.
- The Snow Butte Landscape Restoration Project will restore forest and watershed health, reduce wildfire risk, and improve fish and wildlife habitat.
- CSF is a strong proponent of actively managing forests, including harvesting timber, to improve forest health and wildlife habitat, increase access and opportunity for hunters and anglers, and support local forest-based economies.
In October, the U.S. Forest Service released the Environmental Assessment for the Snow Butte Landscape Restoration Project in Southern Oregon. As proposed, the project will treat 27,011 acres of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest to move the project area towards the desired conditions in the forest plan by increasing forest resiliency to wildfire and other disturbances. Specifically, commercial and non-commercial thinnings will reduce fuel loads, enhance vertical and horizontal heterogeneity, and reduce competition to improve forest health and prevent severe wildfires. Additionally, the project will restore 293 acres of meadows by removing encroaching trees and shrubs to provide early successional habitat for wildlife, restore 81 acres of hardwoods, restore forest composition along riparian areas where fire has been excluded, replace culverts to improve fish passage and watershed health, and use prescribed fire to reduce wildfire risk and increase vegetative diversity.
In Congress, CSF supports the Fix Our Forests Act, which would increase the resiliency of federal forests to severe wildfires and other forest health threats by streamlining National Environmental Policy Act procedures and expanding collaborative tools to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration work. The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry advanced S. 1462 (18-5) in October, and the House passed H.R. 471 (279-141) in January. While the legislation is not a panacea for federal land management challenges, it is a step in the right direction to address forest health and wildlife habitat needs on public lands. With the broad bipartisan support that both bills received, CSF is optimistic that the Senate will take up S. 1462 early next year before the 2026 wildfire season.
CSF is thankful for the U.S. Forest Service’s proactive management of federal forests and looks forward to the project’s implementation to improve forest and watershed health, reduce wildfire risk for nearby communities, and support Oregon’s outdoor sporting traditions that depend on healthy forests.
