About Friends of the Corvallis Watershed
Our Mission
Friends of the Corvallis Watershed was created to draw attention to and share information about the state of the Corvallis watershed and its management. The impetus was the aggressive timber harvest of large trees currently planned for the spring of 2022, but ultimately, We hope it will be a valuable tool to gather public input to help guide the city in revising the Corvallis Forest Stewardship Plan to prioritize ecosystem health and carbon storage over financially motivated resource extraction.
This group sprang up after community concerns about the detrimental effects of a timber harvest of this magnitude during the height of nesting season, contradictions between the City's goals for reduced carbon emissions and large scale resource extraction, and an overall lack of opportunity for community input fell upon deaf ears at the City of Corvallis Public Works Department who oversees management of the Watershed. After numerous inquiries from citizens and community groups with a range of background were either outright ignored or brushed over it was clear this message needed a wider audience.
The Challenge
It is unclear if the Harvest Plan was ever reviewed or approved by anyone outside the Public Works Department. A significantly different version may have been presented to a subset of the now disbanded Watershed Management Advisory Committee during their last-ever meeting in July of 2021 (the one and only in the last 3 years) but there is no record of any comment or approval in the minutes or agenda.
It is also clear that conducting a large timber operation with up to 65% of the overstory being removed in some areas during the height of nesting season does not live up to their stated goals of "providing high quality fish and wildlife habitat". The numerous contradictions between the Corvallis Forest Stewardship Plan (CFSP) and the Harvest Plan, not publicly available, -include underrepresentation in age classification, average tree diameter, target harvest volume, ultimately mutually exclusive “restoration goals” revealing a lack of review and a willingness to shape the facts to the narrative of a habitat in need of restoration that closer examination does not bear out.
Opportunities to get involved
Consider a call the Corvallis Public Works Department at 541-766-6916 or email publicworks@corvallisoregon.gov to express your concers or to sign up for the next Watershed Tour. Please CC friendsofthewatershed.org so we can stay abreast of public sentiment.