The Challenges Facing Oregon’s Family-Owned Forests
Nearly half of Oregon's privately-owned timber lands are owned by family foresters. These lands are nestled between the valleys where people live and the long mountain ranges where most trees are federal property or owned by industrial-scale timber companies. Located low in watersheds, many family forests have bigger streams than their upslope counterparts. These are the forests Oregonians are most likely to see when they are out driving around the countryside.
In collaboration with the Seattle-based journalism non-profit InvestigateWest, Jefferson Public Radio explores the forces that are bringing change to the timber lands owned by Oregon's family foresters.