Forests

The Goal of Forest Zoning

Goal 4 of Oregon’s land use system protects working forest land for commercial forestry. Hood River County’s forest zoning assures the continuous growing and harvesting of trees consistent with management of soil, air, water, fish and wildlife, while providing for agriculture and recreation.

The County Forestry Department manages timber sales and an extensive network of popular recreational trails which accommodate both motorized and non-motorized uses.

Forest zoning conserves and maintains forest land and protects it from non-compatible development. Local zoning regulations:

• prevent forest land from being divided into parcels too small to manage effectively for timber, habitat, recreation, watershed protection, and other purposes.
• limit new dwellings in order to reduce the impact of wildfire.

Thrive’s Role

Thrive’s mission to protect Hood River’s forests entails:

• Watchdogging: We review land use permit applications submitted to Hood River County in light of county code, state law, LUBA opinions and court rulings. We submit public comments on applications that exceed those boundaries, and may subsequently appeal approvals that do so. We may investigate and inform the county when we become aware of compliance issues with existing permits.
• Advocacy: We include forest land fire prevention in various seminars and events.
• Connection: Thrive partners with other nonprofits to publicize restoration projects and wild fire prevention and mitigation.