1. In the woods east of Astoria, plans for state timber harvests draw neighbor concerns

ASTORIA, Ore. — Two months after a passionate public comment period, the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Astoria District Office has moved the Mothball Hill timber harvest to the alternate list for its annual operations plan.

The decision marks a slight change of course — but some neighbors argue it’s not enough.

In Oregon, the Department of Forestry and local governments in Forest Trust Land Counties rely on revenue generated from local timber harvests. Annual operations plans help local districts outline where those timber harvests will be each fiscal year. While the plan itself is nothing unusual, this year’s process brought an unprecedented public response over two proposed harvests close to neighborhoods: Mothball Hill and Davis Ridge.

According to the 2025 annual operations plan and preoperations reports, the Mothball Hill operation would allow for a clearcut harvest on 99 acres across two units east of Astoria and generate an estimated $1.2 million. The Davis Ridge operation calls for a 168-acre clearcut on two units in Brownsmead with an estimated $2.2 million net value.

Dan Goody, the Astoria district forester, said the district intends to proceed as planned with the Davis Ridge harvest, but is tapping the brakes on Mothball Hill — temporarily, at least. While the operation is on the alternate list for fiscal year 2025, Goody said it likely will still be a primary option in fiscal year 2026.

“There was lots of interest in the sale, and I felt like we hadn’t had a chance to actually engage with the landowners,” Goody said. “And this will give us some more time to engage with the landowners, and we’re doing that. So deferring that a little bit gave us that time to engage with them directly.”

Annual operations plan approved

Goody approved the annual operations plan last week. Now, individual timber sale plans will need to be approved before the Department of Forestry moves forward. Sale preparation — which involves steps like fieldwork, cruising and appraisal — typically happens three or four months ahead of the sale quarter.

The process also includes outreach to landowners with property directly adjacent to the proposed harvests.

“They’ll be touching bases with the folks who want to touch base, and walking through their concerns and seeing where we can meet some of those concerns within our ability and then prepare the sale and move forward,” Goody said.

Earlier this month, Goody met with adjacent property owners at the two sites, including Darren Orange, an artist whose backyard directly abuts one of the Mothball Hill units.

Orange said he’s grateful for the opportunity for a conversation, but still has many of the same concerns as he did previously. He sees the timber sale as a short-term benefit to the state and Clatsop County at his and his neighbors’ expense.

“This is a fight that needs to continue — this is not over,” he said. “Just because they kick the can down the road a year doesn’t make me feel any better.”

Orange has been a vocal opponent of the Mothball Hill operation, citing concerns over landslide risks and the impact of potential chemical sprays on his organic garden, his wife’s apiary business and nearby water sources. He said he hasn’t received any additional information on geotechnical, wildlife and soil and water reports conducted at the site, and has gone so far as to hire a private water scientist to look into his concerns.

Under the annual operations plan process, specialists with the Department of Forestry review data through GIS layers and provide expertise in written statements or updates to data fields. Other reports and information become available as the sites are prepared for auction and throughout the sale administration process.

Tim Hoffman, a public affairs officer with the Department of Forestry, said threatened and endangered species surveys are still being completed to protocol standards, and will be summarized into a report later this fall. Stream seasonality surveys will occur this summer, and biological survey tracking reports will be prepared for individual sales as they are prepared for auction.

‘It feels defeating’

Denise and Ry Moore, whose property abuts one of the proposed Davis Ridge units, have also voiced concerns.

In early July, the couple received an official letter from Goody letting them know he planned on including Davis Ridge in the 2025 annual operations plan. According to the letter, the timber sale is scheduled to be prepared for the second quarter and likely to be auctioned in January or February. Harvesting isn’t anticipated to begin until later that year, and could continue through 2028.

“It feels defeating because, you know, given the timeline and sort of the quick speed of all this, it’s hard not to feel like our opinions didn’t matter as landowners adjacent to the site,” Ry Moore said.

The Moores said they’ve had the opportunity to walk their property with Goody and identify trees they want to be saved, but they still have concerns over the slope of the site, the impact of cutting on water quality near Gnat Creek and the potential noise from operations. While the letter from the Department of Forestry helps clarify the process moving forward, they wish they’d had more input and transparency earlier.

“My hope is that there’s more discussion about logging and current practices, with a sensitivity to the reality of the climate that we live in,” Moore said. “I would just want more discussion about that and how this might impact us, not just in our homes now, but future generations — because it will. This forest isn’t going to be what it is now for, who knows how long.”