Oregon Policy and Legislation

The Society of American Foresters has a responsibility to anticipate, identify and define opportunities, problems and issues related to forest resources. The Society’s forestry-related policies, approved by referendum, guide positions the Society takes in contributing its professional knowledge to public deliberations on forestry issues.

SAF promotes policies that:

• Encourage conservation of, or investment in, forest resources to satisfy future expectations,
• Resolve conflicts about forest uses and forestland allocations to make future investments more secure,
• Promote the equitable distribution of forest benefits to strengthen public support for forest resource conservation, and
• Increase cooperation between and among foresters and forestry institutions throughout the world who are developing mutually beneficial approaches to these challenges.

The Society’s position-taking procedure assures analytical, objective and democratic analysis of forestry issues. Interdisciplinary task forces study and prepare reports on resource issues. Task force members represent the various disciplinary and philosophical segments of the forestry profession and are selected for their knowledge about the issues. Position statements draw from task force reports and are reviewed by forest policy and science experts and the Society’s governing council before being adopted.

Oregon Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (OSAF) stands able and willing to represent the professional forestry perspective when stakeholder input is sought in Oregon. OSAF has about 1,000 members and includes field foresters, researchers, administrators and educators who work for federal, state or local governments; for universities; for small and large landowners; and for small businesses and large corporations.

The value that OSAF brings to forestry-related policy discussions

Although we come from “all walks of forestry,” we pledge that our professional views and other input will be consistent with the SAF mission to:

• advance the science, education, technology, and practice of forestry;
• enhance the competency of its members; establish professional excellence;
• use the knowledge, skills, and conservation ethic of the profession to ensure the continued health and use of forest ecosystems and the present and future availability of forest resources to benefit society.

To share with stakeholders what OSAF is and the expertise we bring to policy discussions, we have created a helpful overview of our organization. (PDF)

Position Statements

These are the position statements of Oregon SAF and National SAF. Position statements written by Oregon SAF address how forestry is conducted in the state of Oregon and are meant to complement the position statements produced by National SAF.