This is the first in a two-part series about Oregon’s state forests, including the history of how the state acquired over 600,000 acres of forest from 15 forest trust land counties in the 1930s and 1940s, the progression of management approaches and issues on those forests over the last seven decades, and what lead the state to pursue a Habitat Conservation Plan for western Oregon state forests that aims to both protect threatened and endangered species like the northern spotted owl and coho salmon and increase financial stability for the Department.

** please note: there is a minor correction to this episode in Are We Putting the Forest to Sleep? An update: Coho lawsuit and a minor correction