THE ROLE OF GEOTECHNICAL SPECIALISTS IN REGULATING FOREST PRACTICES IN OREGON

In 1972, Oregon adopted the Oregon Forest Practices Act. “The Act” provides for widespread protection of natural resources from forest operations and has recently been amended to include provisions for protection of public safety. The Oregon Department of Forestry, ODF, regulates forest practices on private forestlands to meet the requirements of the Act and manages state forests to meet or exceed the Act. ODF does not regulate forest practices on federal land, but federal land managers in Oregon have agreed to meet or exceed the Act.

In order to better administer the Act when regulating forest practices on private forestlands, ODF forest practices foresters, “FPF’s”, consult ODF geotechnical specialists, “geotechs”, on a range of timber harvest and road issues, primarily with regards to slope stability, but also with stream crossings, wetland crossings, erodible soils, and quarries. Geotechs train FPF’s to screen forest operations and to seek an appropriate level of geotech consultation as needed, ranging from a phone call or e-mail to a field site visit. Geotechs provide tech transfer to both FPF’s and forestland owners and operators to increase the understanding of the issues by the parties involved as well as to maximize the efficiency of meeting the requirements of the Act. Geotech input often goes beyond forest practices regulatory requirements.

Since 1997, in addition to addressing natural resource protection, ODF geotechs have also been investigating operations with public safety concerns. After six years with an interim prohibition of operations on steep slopes above homes and roads at risk, a finalized set of risk-based management rules for the protection of public safety from debris flows became effective in January 2003. Operations are screened by FPF’s to identify the extent of any debris flow hazard as well as possible structures or roads at risk. For operations identified by the screening process, the hazard and level of risk are evaluated in the field by an ODF geotech. The appropriate level of protection is determined by the level of risk. Consulting geotechnical specialists may be employed by forest landowners to further investigate areas of concern and better determine the level of risk.