New Funding Mechanism In Oregon

This past year, the Oregon State Legislature declared its support for conservation projects focusing on source water protection for Oregonians.

Drawing from examples of community forest projects, such as the Arch Cape Watershed and the Bear Ridge Community Forest, a new $5 million dollar fund was established to support the community acquisition of forestlands areas around their drinking watershed. This fund is currently undergoing rulemaking in the coming months and will likely come online in mid-2025 through the management and administration from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

A major reason this program was considered a strong fit for support from legislature stemmed from the currently available federal funding opportunities, for community forests, and more broadly, for land acquisition. Examples of available programs such as the Community Forest and Open Space Program (currently accepting applications through January 12, 2024) and the Forest Legacy Program (accepting applications through December 11, 2023, and April 20, 2024) helped highlight the available resources this fund will be able to leverage. The clear investment in local forest ownership from the federal government helped ensure the investment from the State of Oregon will be effective.

Picture Left, Arch Cape Watershed, acquired with Forest Legacy Funding Support in 2022.

Photo: Springboard Forestry

Several organizations and partners came together to support this work, including Coalition Partners, the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts, North Coast Land Conservancy, The Conservation Fund, The Nature Conservancy, Springboard Forestry, and Sustainable Northwest. More importantly, this support was championed by Representatives Ken Helm and Mark Owens.