ORS 526.271: Findings.

The Legislative Assembly finds and declares that: (1) The State Forestry Department is well-positioned, due to experience in managing Oregon forests and its understanding of science-based, active forest management, to facilitate state government participation in forest management on federal lands located within the state. (2) The State Department of Fish and Wildlife has expertise with fish and wildlife habitat and the Department of Environmental Quality has expertise with water quality. Both departments have an important role to play in the management of federal forests located within the state. (3) A collaborative relationship between the State Forestry Department, the federal government, other agencies of the executive department, as defined in ORS 174.112, interested persons and nongovernmental organizations may restore the health, diversity and resilience of federal forests by increasing the information shared and by providing a variety of perspectives on site-specific and landscape-level determinations. (4) In cooperation with the State Forestry Department and the federal government, many communities in wildfire-prone areas have completed a community wildfire protection plan that identifies priority areas for hazardous fuel removal from federal lands. (5) The federal government has provided opportunities for agencies of the executive department, as defined in ORS 174.112, to become involved, to a greater extent, in the management of federal lands. [2005 c.772 §1]