The oregon department of forestry (ODF) is requesting 1,000,000 in federal grant funds from the fiscal year (FY) 2023 cooperative endangered species conservation fund (cescf) (section 6 of the…

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded a $1,333,333 Project Grant under the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund (CFDA 15.615) to the State of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) for the development of a statewide Aquatic Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP).

The grant funding will support Phase 3 of the HCP planning process, which will include the completion of a public draft HCP and a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). The HCP is being developed through a monumental agreement between forestry and conservation groups, known as the Private Forest Accord (PFA), to update Oregon's Forest Practices Act and obtain regulatory streamlining for private forest landowners. The grant project aims to promote conservation of aquatic species while providing regulatory certainty for large and small private landowners, counties, municipalities, and potentially tribes participating in the HCP. The grant award period is from Oct 1, 2024 to Jun 30, 2026.

The oregon department of forestry (ODF) is requesting 1,000,000 in federal grant funds from the fiscal year (FY) 2023 cooperative endangered species conservation fund (cescf) (section 6 of the endangered species act ESA ) habitat conservation planning assistance program. We anticipate the development of the statewide ODF private forest accord aquatic habitat conservation plan (HCP) and the concurrent national environmental policy act (nepa) process shall occur in four phases. Phase 1 is complete. Phase 2 is currently under way and is funded primarily through a FY2022 section 6 grant award. We are requesting funds for phase 3 of the planning process which will include the completion of a public draft HCP and a draft environmental impact statement (deis). Grant funds will be used for contracted services and minimal odfw staff time for project assistance. This HCP project was initiated by a monumental agreement, termed the private forest accord (PFA) agreement, between forestry and conservation interest groups to update oregon s forest practices act and to obtain a HCP to provide regulatory streamlining and certainty to private forest landowners. The agreement led to changes in state law which was passed by the state legislature in march of 2022 and changes to administrative rules which were finalized in august 2022. Collectively these changes represent a major update to oregon s forest laws. The agreement requires completion of a HCP and to obtain incidental take permits for the covered species no later than december 31, 2027. If this deadline is not met, legislation and associated rules will roll back to those in place before the PFA agreement was in place. Thus success is paramount for this project. The purpose of pursuing a PFA aquatic HCP is to provide regulatory streamlining opportunities for private forest landowners throughout oregon while promoting conservation of aquatic species. The programmatic nature of this HCP allows large and small private landowners, counties and municipalities, as well as the potential for tribes to participate in a streamlined approach to protecting covered species under the ESA. The FY2023 grant will fund completion of the public draft HCP and draft environmental impact statement for this project.