Bureau of Land Management wants to write plan to increase logging in western Oregon

By Alan Torres
The Eugene Register-Guard
March 16, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

©BLM_Flickr

The Bureau of Land Management wants to increase logging in western Oregon and public comment is open on the proposal. The “Oregon and California Revested Railroad Lands Act” from 1937 gives the BLM authority to govern 2.46 million acres of federal land in 18 western Oregon counties. The BLM wants to rewrite the plan governing this area to increase timber harvesting in line with “historically higher levels of production” and “the nation’s need for domestic sources of timber and fiber.” According to the BLM, 267 million board feet of timber was harvested from these lands in 2025. From 1960 through 1989, the lands produced an annual average of 1,078 million board feet, before harvesting declined in 1990 in response to the northern spotted owl’s endangered species listing. …The BLM is seeking public comment on “the scope of the analysis, potential alternatives and identification of relevant information, studies and Areas of Critical Environmental Concern” to take into account while writing this plan.

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