Chapter 383
AN ACT
HB 2974
Relating to scenic highways exemptions; amending ORS 527.755.
Be It Enacted by the People of
the State of
SECTION 1. ORS 527.755 is amended to read:
527.755. (1) The following highways are hereby designated as scenic
highways for purposes of the Oregon Forest Practices Act:
(a) Interstate Highways
5, 84, 205, 405; and
(b) State Highways 6, 7,
20, 18/22, 26, 27, 30, 31, 34, 35, 36, 38, 42, 58, 62, 66, 82, 97, 101, 126,
138, 140, 199, 230, 234 and 395.
(2) The purpose of
designating scenic highways is to provide a limited mechanism that maintains
roadside trees for the enjoyment of the motoring public while traveling through
forestland, consistent with ORS 527.630, safety and other practical considerations.
(3) The State Board of
Forestry, in consultation with the Department of Transportation, shall
establish procedures and regulations as necessary to implement the requirements
of subsections (4), (5) and (6) of this section, consistent with subsection (2)
of this section, including provisions for alternate plans. Alternate plans that
modify or waive the requirements of subsection (4), (5) or (6) of this section
may be approved when, in the judgment of the State Forester, circumstances
exist such as:
(a) Modification or
waiver is necessary to maintain motorist safety, protect improvements such as
dwellings and bridges, or protect forest health;
(b) Modification or
waiver will provide additional scenic benefits to the motoring public, such as
exposure of distant scenic vistas;
(c) Trees that are
otherwise required to be retained will not be visible to motorists;
(d) The operation
involves a change of land use that is inconsistent with maintaining a visually
sensitive corridor; or
(e) The retention of
timber in a visually sensitive corridor will result in severe economic hardship
for the owner because all or nearly all of the owner’s property is within the
visually sensitive corridor.
(4)(a) For harvest
operations within a visually sensitive corridor, at least 50 healthy trees of
at least 11 inches DBH, or that measure at least 40 square feet in basal area,
shall be temporarily left on each acre.
(b) Overstory trees
initially required to be left under paragraph (a) of this subsection may be
removed when the reproduction understory reaches an average height of at least
10 feet and has at least the minimum number of stems per acre of free to grow
seedlings or saplings required by the board for reforestation, by rule.
(c) Alternatively, when
the adjacent stand, extending from 150 feet from the outermost edge of the
roadway to 300 feet from the outermost edge of the roadway, has attained an
average height of at least 10 feet and has at least the minimum number of stems
per acre of free to grow seedlings or saplings required by the board for
reforestation, by rule, or at least 40 square feet of basal area per acre, no
trees are required to be left in the visually sensitive corridor, or trees
initially required to be left under paragraph (a) of this subsection may be
removed. When harvests within the visually sensitive corridor are carried out
under this paragraph, the adjacent stand, extending from 150 feet from the
outermost edge of the roadway to 300 feet from the outermost edge of the
roadway, shall not be reduced below the minimum number of stems per acre of
free to grow seedlings or saplings at least 10 feet tall required by the board
for reforestation, by rule, or below 40 square feet of basal area per acre
until the adjacent visually sensitive corridor has been reforested as required
under subsection (6) of this section and the stand has
attained an average height of at least 10 feet and has at least the minimum
number of stems per acre.
(5) Harvest areas within
a visually sensitive corridor shall be cleared of major harvest debris within
30 days of the completion of the harvest, or within 60 days of the cessation of
active harvesting activity on the site, regardless of whether the harvest
operation is complete.
(6) Notwithstanding the
time limits established in ORS 527.745 (1)(a), when harvesting within a
visually sensitive corridor results in a harvest type 1 or harvest type 3,
reforestation shall be completed by the end of the first planting season after
the completion of the harvest. All other provisions of ORS 527.745 shall also
apply to harvest type 1 or harvest type 3 within visually sensitive corridors.
(7) Landowners and
operators shall not be liable for injury or damage caused by trees left within
the visually sensitive corridor for purposes of fulfilling the requirements of
this section, when carried out in compliance with the provisions of the Oregon
Forest Practices Act.
(8) The following are
exempt from this section:
(a) Harvest on single ownerships less than five
acres in size; [are exempt from
this section.]
(b) Harvest within an
urban growth boundary, as defined in ORS 195.060; and
(c) Harvest within zones
designated for rural residential development pursuant to an exception adopted to the statewide land use planning goals under ORS 197.732.
Approved by the Governor June 12, 2007
Filed in the office of Secretary of State June 13, 2007
Effective date January 1, 2008
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