Is Oregon Losing Forestland to Other Uses?

There is nearly the same amount of Forestland today as there was 300 years ago. Of the 30 million acres of Forestland in Oregon in the 1630's, about 2.5 million acres, or about 8%, have been converted to non-forest use* Growth of agriculture, the creation of cities and towns, industrial development, highways, and electric transmission lines have all contributed to the conversion of land that was previously forested.

Oregon's forests are carefully monitored by the Oregon Department of Forestry and the agencies responsible for federal forests: the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. Recent improvements in satellite technology have enabled sophisticated mapping systems to track increases and decreases in the amount of Forestland, along with tree growth and other changes in the Forestlandscape.

* These figures do not include acreage in juniper woodlands, which has increased dramatically over the past century.

SOURCE: Oregon Forest Resources Institute, Forest Fact Book.