The North Coast State Forest Coalition (NCSFC) is a coalition of non-profit organizations in

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

that works to protect wild

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and N ...

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

, terrestrial species, and the

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

on which these species depend. The NCSFC also advocates for recreational opportunities. The coalition is focused on improving the management of the

Tillamook State Forest The Tillamook State Forest is a publicly owned forest in the U.S. state of Oregon. Managed by the Oregon Department of Forestry, it is located west of Portland in the Northern Oregon Coast Range, and spans Washington, Tillamook, Yamhill, and C ...

and

Clatsop State Forest Clatsop State Forest is a state forest in Clatsop and Columbia counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is managed by the Astoria District of the Oregon Department of Forestry The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is the agency of the govern ...

in northwest Oregon. The core members of the coalition are

Wild Salmon Center The Wild Salmon Center (WSC) is an international conservation organization that works to protect wild salmon, Rainbow trout, steelhead, Salvelinus, char, trout and the ecosystems on which these species depend. Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, P ...

, Association of Northwest Steelheaders, Oregon Council of

Trout Unlimited Trout Unlimited (TU) is a US non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of freshwater streams, rivers, and associated upland habitats for trout, salmon, other aquatic species, and people. It is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. Th ...

, Oregon Chapter of

Sierra Club The Sierra Club is an environmental organization with chapters in all 50 United States, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico. The club was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by Scottish-American preservationist John Muir, who be ...

, Pacific Rivers, Native Fish Society, and Northwest Guides and Anglers Association.

High value conservation areas

The North Coast State Forest Coalition was created in 2011 when Oregon Governor

John Kitzhaber John Albert Kitzhaber (born March 5, 1947) is an American former politician who served as the 35th governor of Oregon from 1995 to 2003, and as the 37th governor of Oregon from 2011 until his resignation in 2015. A member of the Democratic Party ...

called for the creation of "visible and durable" conservation areas on Oregon state forest lands. In 2012, under grassroots and grasstops pressure created by the NCSFC, the Oregon Board of Forestry went into rulemaking to create High Value Conservation Areas. In 2013, the Board approved the new designation and in 2014 over of the Tillamook State Forest and Clatsop State Forest were designated, including

riparian buffer A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a "buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality i ...

s and parcels prioritizing terrestrial habit.

Arcadia cedar

In 2013 the

Clatsop County Clatsop County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 41,072. The county seat is Astoria. The county is named for the Clatsop tribe of Native Americans, who lived along the coast of ...

Board of Commissioners passed a resolution requesting that the

Oregon Department of Forestry The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) is the agency of the state government, government of the U.S. state of Oregon which performs a wide variety of functions relating to the management, regulation and protection of both public and private fores ...

protect Oregon's largest tree, the Arcadia Cedar, which is located in Clatsop County on public Board of Forestry land. The tree, a

Western red cedar ''Thuja plicata'' is an evergreen coniferous tree in the cypress family Cupressaceae, native to western North America. Its common name is western redcedar (western red cedar in the UK), and it is also called Pacific redcedar, giant arborvitae, w ...

, has been identified as Oregon's largest tree by Ascending the Giants based on its height, trunk diameter, and crown spread. The North Coast State Forest Coalition helped bring attention to the tree, which is on the Oregon Department of Forestry's Land Acquisition and Exchange Plan for potential trade to a logging company.

References

{{Reflist 2011 establishments in Oregon Environmental organizations based in Oregon

High value conservation areas

Arcadia cedar

See also

References