Govind Tekale
Oregon State University has purchased 3,110 acres of forest just outside Portland, marking a significant addition to the school’s research forests and creating new outdoor opportunities for the public.
The Tualatin Mountain Forest, located five miles northwest of Portland’s Forest Park, was acquired for $27 million through a partnership with the Trust for Public Land. The nonprofit bought the land from timber company Weyerhaeuser and transferred it to OSU.
“This is good news for Oregon’s outdoor tourism and recreation economy, which generates billions in revenue each year and relies on healthy ecosystems,” said representatives from the Trust for Public Land.
A Forest for Multiple Uses
OSU’s College of Forestry will manage the forest with several goals in mind:
The university plans to study how different forest management methods affect tree health and fire resilience. Unlike traditional timber plantations that focus mainly on wood production, OSU aims to create a more diverse forest with multiple tree species.
“We’re getting more and more stressors on our forests and so this forest will provide replicated, complex comparisons of different types of management strategies, but it will not look like the plantation forest that it is today,” said Tom DeLuca, Dean of OSU’s College of Forestry.
The forest contains important natural resources, including 20 miles of creeks and headwaters that feed into the Multnomah Channel and the Willamette River. These waterways support salmon and other wildlife.
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Public Access and Recreation
Currently, the forest has about 40 miles of mountain bike trails that require paid membership through the Northwest Trail Alliance. Under OSU’s ownership, many of these trails will become free and open to the public.
The university is developing plans for new hiking trails and expects to begin opening some areas to visitors as early as this fall, with full access within a few years.
Funding and Future Management
The $27 million purchase was funded entirely through grants – $23.5 million from the federal Forest Legacy Program and $3.5 million from Metro’s 2019 Parks and Nature Bond.
Under the terms of the Forest Legacy Program, the land must remain as forest permanently. If OSU ever gives up ownership, the property would transfer to the Oregon Department of Forestry.
While logging will continue in the forest, it will be less intensive than under previous ownership. Trees will be allowed to grow older before harvesting, and clearcuts will be smaller.
DeLuca estimates that after five years, the forest will generate about $420,000 annually from timber harvests, with management costs of around $350,000 per year. The $70,000 surplus will go into a contingency fund to protect the forest.
Educational Opportunities
OSU plans to use the forest as an outdoor classroom for Portland-area students.
“Youth growing up in urban environments don’t have any sense of what forestry is or why it’s conducted,” DeLuca said. “They know they live in a wood house and they sit at a wood table at dinner, but they have no idea where the wood comes from. And just like you want to know where your food came from, you should know where your wood came from.”
Mixed Reactions
Not everyone supports OSU’s acquisition of the forest. Some environmental groups have criticized the university’s management of its other research forests.
“What the heck were the people at the Trust for Public Lands thinking by giving the land to OSU?” said Doug Pollock, who runs the Corvallis-based Friends of OSU Old Growth. “Their decision to give the land to the school will ensure the forest will be logged in perpetuity.”
Critics point to past controversies, including a 2019 incident where the university cut down 16 acres of old-growth trees, including a 420-year-old tree, in another research forest. OSU later acknowledged this was a mistake.
DeLuca counters that the college is moving away from logging-heavy approaches in its forest management.
Tribal Involvement
The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, whose ancestral lands include the forest, will be involved in planning for the area. The university is working with the tribe to identify culturally significant areas within the forest.
The Tualatin Mountain Forest becomes OSU’s 10th research forest, bringing the university’s total research forest land to over 18,000 acres across Oregon.
