OAR 629-635-0100: Purpose and Goals

(1) The leading use on private forestland is the growing and harvesting of trees, consistent with sound management of soil, air, water, fish and wildlife resources. There is a unique concentration of public resource values in and near waters of the state because these areas are critical for the overall maintenance of fish and wildlife and for maintaining water quality. Consequently, the policies of the Forest Practices Act, including encouraging economically efficient forest practices, are best achieved by focusing protection measures in riparian management areas, where the emphasis is on providing water quality and fish and wildlife habitat. (2) OAR 629-635-0000 through 629-660-0060 are known as the water protection rules. (3) The purpose of the water protection rules is to protect, maintain and, where appropriate, improve the functions and values of streams, lakes, wetlands, and riparian management areas. These functions and values include water quality, hydrologic functions, the growing and harvesting of trees, and fish and wildlife resources. (4) Plans for alternate practices may be used to alter vegetation retention requirements in the water protection rules based on local site conditions. The plans may include but are not limited to site specific vegetation retention prescriptions as described in OAR 629-643-0400 (for streams) and 629-645-0020 (for wetlands). The operator may: (a) Evaluate site specific conditions in waters and riparian management areas; and (b) Develop plans for alternate practices that will: (A) Enhance, maintain, or restore when degraded conditions exist, riparian functions in streams, wetlands, and lakes; or (B) Meet the purposes and goals of the water protection rules while providing opportunities to complete ecological, restoration, or operational objectives for various riparian area site conditions. (5) The overall goal of the water protection rules is to provide resource protection during operations adjacent to and within streams, lakes, wetlands and riparian management areas so that, while continuing to grow and harvest trees, the protection goals for fish, amphibians, other wildlife, and water quality are met. (a) The protection goal for water quality (as prescribed in ORS 527.765) is to ensure through the described forest practices that, to the maximum extent practicable, non-point source discharges of pollutants resulting from forest operations do not impair the achievement and maintenance of the water quality standards. (b) The protection goal for fish is to establish and retain vegetation consistent with the vegetation retention objectives described in OAR 629-643-0000 (streams), 629-645-0000 (significant wetlands), and 629-650-0000 (lakes) that will maintain, enhance, or restore water quality and provide aquatic habitat components and functions such as shade, large wood, and nutrients. (c) The protection goal for wildlife is to establish and retain vegetation consistent with the vegetation retention objectives described in OAR 629-643-0000 (streams), 629-645-0000 (significant wetlands), and 629-650-0000 (lakes) that will maintain, enhance, or restore water quality and habitat components such as live trees of various species and size classes, shade, snags, downed wood, and food within riparian management areas. For wildlife species not necessarily reliant upon riparian areas, habitat in riparian management areas is also emphasized in order to capitalize on the multiple benefits of vegetation retained along waters for a variety of purposes.