Statute Text
Scenic
highways; visually sensitive corridors; operations restricted; exemptions.
(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 owners 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;
(b) Harvest
within an urban growth boundary, as defined in ORS 197.015; and
(c) Harvest
within zones designated for rural residential development pursuant to an
exception adopted to the statewide land use planning goals under O