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Forest Bridges Publishes Innovative O&C Lands Moist Forest Proposal
For Immediate Release: ROSEBURG, Ore. — “With the last ten years of intense and widespread wildfire acknowledged by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management as the top reason for old growth northern spotted owl habitat loss, it is time to rethink conservation set asides,” says Thomas McGregor, Chair of Forest Bridges: The O&C Forest Habitat Project, and a local conservationist and non-profit leader.
“This trend is contrary to the goals of protecting these habitats,” says McGregor, “and it is now widely viewed in the scientific community, and in many sectors of the public, that late-successional and other reserves are not working.”
“Furthermore,” says McGregor, who is also the past President of Umpqua Watersheds, “recent Oregon State University scientific modeling shows that, given a warming climate, moist forests in the Pacific NW can expect more frequent, larger and more severe fires in the coming decades.”
Dana Kjos, Oregon Logging and Contract Timber Manager at Roseburg Forest Products, and Forest Bridges’ Treasurer, says the ten-year-old grassroots non-profit collaborative has developed what it calls an all-lands, active conservation management approach for the 2.9 million acres of western Oregon’s O&C Lands.
As a step in sharing this approach, Forest Bridges has just released its Moist Forest Proposal for Western Oregon’s O&C Lands—specifically designed for the 1.4 million acres of O&C moist forests, located in Northwest Oregon, along the Oregon Coast Range, and in moister parts of the Cascade Range.
Executive Director Denise Barrett talks with Kyle Bailey on "Inside Douglas County"
Forest Bridges Executive Director Denise Barrett gives an update on our O&C Lands policy and public engagement efforts, as well as shares details of the September 9, 2025 Archie Creek Fire Commemorative Concert.
"We Need Each Other's Help" - Letter to the Editor Published in The News-Review
Forest Bridges wishes to thank Roseburg, Oregon resident Bill McClendon, who is also a Friend of Forest Bridges, for his impassioned letter to the editor, which was recently published in the News-Review. In it, Mr. McClendon urges action to mitigate the growing frequency of high severity wildfires in our region and beyond. He promotes Forest Bridges and its work as part of creating durable solutions. And he urges readers to learn more about us, as well as consider becoming a Friend of Forests Bridges. We would also encourage all reading this to consider endorsing our latest initiative -- a set of legislative concepts to advance our Active Conservation Management strategies and break down barriers to the BLM and the USFS managing the O&C Lands to increase their health and fire resilience. Click on the orange box on our home page.
We also thank the News-Review for publishing Bill's letter.