Oregon forestry officials will need to manage hundreds of thousands of acres of western state forests to better support critical species, water and air quality and to decrease greenhouse gas emissions under a new management plan the Board of Forestry approved Wednesday. The seven-member board voted 5-2 to pass the 168-page Western Oregon State Forests Management Plan. The new plan, which will guide the Oregon Department of Forestry’s work in 640,000 acres of state forests in 14 counties and mostly in northwest Oregon over the next several decades, will take effect by July 1, 2027. It lays out the priorities, goals and strategies for the department in those forests, which include supporting economies dependent on timber, forest products, agriculture and mining, and a slate of ecological priorities as well: ensuring clean air and water, adapting to and fighting climate change, and protecting wildlife habitat and plant diversity.