It’s official. Elliott State Forest is on its way to becoming an Oregon State University-managed research forest. It’s been a long battle, but things are finally getting set in place to move forward.
According to a recent press release, this was decided when Oregon’s 2022 Legislature wrapped on Friday, with funds dedicated to helping launch an innovation district at OSU-Cascades in Bend, and a housing project for OSU’s marine studies program and the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport.
Other investments from Oregon lawmakers include an investment in higher education programs to help students transition to four-year universities in Oregon and support college expenses for tribal members. Additionally, the Legislature reestablished portions of a forest products harvest tax to fund programs at OSU’s College of Forestry.
The Legislature also approved $10 million for helping to mitigate a former Deschutes County construction landfill intended to be the site of an OSU-Cascades innovation district. The innovation would take up 24 of the 128 acre branch campus to include academic space, light industrial space, and office space to accelerate the creation of technology and contribute to the area’s workforce.
“I’m very grateful for the support of public higher education and Oregon State University initiatives by Gov. Kate Brown and Oregon legislators,” said OSU Interim President Becky Johnson. “Continued state investment in supporting student success will benefit thousands of students across Oregon. Within Oregon State University, legislative support for a new innovation district at OSU-Cascades, establishment of an Elliott State Research Forest, assistance for student, faculty and research partner housing at the Hatfield Marine Science Center and investments in many other university education, research and Extension programs will serve Oregonians and advance scientific discovery and our state’s economy.”
Elliott Forest
This legislative action would convert the 82,520 acre Elliott State Forest in Douglas and Coos counties into a research forest under the university’s supervision. OSU leaders have worked with the Department of State Lands and environmental, wildlife, forest, tribal, and community stakeholders to build a plan for the future.
The Legislature created an independent state entity that would own and have responsibility for the forest while contracting OSU. The OUS board of trustees has until July 1, 2023, to authorize the university’s role as the forest manager.
Other School Funding
The Legislature also approved:
- $30 million in bonding authority for deferred maintenance investments at Oregon’s seven public universities;
- $1 million for the Oregon Bee Project, a cooperative effort between Oregon State Extension Service, Oregon Department of Agriculture and the Oregon Department of Forestry. The project was initiated in 2017 to support pollinators and pesticide-use education programs;
- $350,000 for maintenance and repairs of the Pacific Storm, an 84-foot research vessel operated out of Newport by the Marine Mammal Institute; and,
- $250,000 for improvements and upgrades at the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center in Union. The center is part of the College of Agricultural Science’s Agricultural Experiment Station network.
This is a major project with a lot of money going into it – but a unique one. OSU Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser said in a press release, “It is worth noting that no other state nationally has an 82,000-acre research forest serving this research and practical need.”
Once OSU takes over the state park, it will remain open to the public.
By Ethan Hauck
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