BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.2.3.1//EN TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:VEVENT UID:15157@kmun.org DTSTART;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250514T160000 DTEND;TZID=America/Los_Angeles:20250514T180000 DTSTAMP:20250423T194606Z URL:https://kmun.org/events/protect-our-state-forests-comment-writing-part y-at-kala/ SUMMARY:Protect Our State Forests! Comment Writing Party at KALA DESCRIPTION:North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection (NCCWP) to hol d letter writing event:\nProtect our state forests from clearcutting and p esticide spraying.\nPlease join NCCWP and the North Coast State Forest Coa lition on Wednesday\, May 14th from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at KALA (1017 Marine Dr\, Astoria\, OR 97103). During this gathering\, we invite\nthe public to participate in a letter writing event to address concerns about timber sa les in our local state forests. We will provide attendees with paper\, env elopes\, crafting materials\, and talking points to help guide letter writ ing. Bring a friend! Jam out and add tunes to our Water Warrior playlist. There will be finger foods to pick at and beverages available for purchase \n(Dinah makes a killer cocktail).\nEach year\, Oregon Department of Fores try (ODF) drafts an Annual Operations Plan (AOP) that outlines proposed ti mber sales on public forestland. ODF-managed land is divided into district s\, and each district creates a distinct plan that is submitted to the Boa rd of Forestry (BOF). The Astoria District encompasses the 136\,000+ acres Clatsop State Forest. The 2025 AOP approved 53.1 million board feet of ti mber to be cut (above Astoria ODF’s standard range of 48-52 mmbf). It al so allows for 2\,100 acres of forestland to be sprayed with pesticides wit hin the county.\nThis past April\, the draft AOP for 2026 was submitted to BOF\, initiating a 45-day public comment period that lasts until June 3rd \, 2025. During this comment period\, citizens may offer recommendations. In 2023\, before our first letter writing event in 2024\, the State only r eceived 29 public comments. After our AOP letter writing campaign in 2024\ , more than 1\,000 comments\nwere submitted!\nThe AOP is officially approv ed July 1\, at which point parcels of public forestland are auctioned to p rivate timber companies and contractors. This is how ODF gets the majority of its revenue\,\nsome of which is returned to the county. Once the contr acts are let\, the trees no longer belong to the state.\nAccording to Asto ria ODF employees\, the AOPs attempt to balance the agency’s legal oblig ation to manage state forests for social\, economic\, and environmental ou tcomes. This concept is\ncommonly referred to as Greatest Permanent Value (ORS 530.050). State forests provide outdoor recreation\, education and in terpretation opportunities\, essential wildlife habitat\, clean water\, an d\nsustainable harvest volume that produces jobs and revenue that funds vi tal services in rural counties\, local districts\, and schools throughout the state.\nHowever\, there are a growing number of residents within this historically timber-dependent county that are concerned by the amount of c learcutting and related pesticide applications.\nLast year\, none of the p roperty owners were notified by ODF that clearcuts and spraying would be o ccurring adjacent to their properties before or during the 45-day public c omment period.\nOnly after a local grassroots community group took initiat ive were these residents made aware of these sales planned in their backya rds.\nA 45-day public comment period is open until 5:00pm on June 3rd\, 20 25. ODF is offering several convenient avenues to comment on Annual Operat ing Plans:\n1. Comments can be emailed to odf.sfcomments@odf.oregon.gov\n2 . Comments can also be mailed to ODF Public Affairs\, 2600 State St.\, Sal em\, OR 97310\n3. Online comments are also received through ODF's comments page\n(https://www.oregon.gov/odf/recreation/pages/comment.aspx)\nComment s or questions?\nContact\nPam Birmingham Pam.nccwp@gmail.com\nAnna Kaufman Anna.nccwp@gmail.com\nAs a matter of necessity and regardless of land own ership\, NCCWP demands no more logging and no more pesticide spraying with in our drinking-watersheds. Safe drinking water and clean air are part of the public trust that we all are entitled to have. Please help North Coast Communities for Watershed Protection safeguard and restore our drinking w atersheds. healthywatershed.org | www.facebook.com/NCCWATERSHEDPROTECTION\ nThe North Coast State Forest Coalition is a group of organizations and in dividuals working together to restore healthy mature forests\, intact ecos ystems\, abundant wildlife\, robust wild salmon runs and clean water to Or egon’s state forests. We support restoring balanced\necosystem-based man agement for state forests by advocating for a strong habitat conservation plan and other laws and policies that support these goals. standtalloregon .org  www.facebook.com/ForestLegacy CATEGORIES:Public Events LOCATION:KALA\, 1017 Marine Drive \, Astoria\, Oregon\, 97103\, United Stat es GEO:46.1897359;-123.83226509999997 X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=1017 Marine Drive \, Astori a\, Oregon\, 97103\, United States;X-APPLE-RADIUS=100;X-TITLE=KALA:geo:46. 1897359,-123.83226509999997 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/Los_Angeles X-LIC-LOCATION:America/Los_Angeles BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250309T030000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0800 TZOFFSETTO:-0700 TZNAME:PDT END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE END:VCALENDAR