SALEM — A trio of bills that seek to end Oregon’s “timber wars” have won bipartisan support from state lawmakers, who confirmed the previously negotiated compromises by wide margins.

Senate Bill 1501, which enshrines into law new logging standards agreed upon by timber and environmental groups, passed the Senate 22-5 and the House 43-15 in the waning days of this year’s legislative session, which ended March 4.

A companion bill that provides tax credits to small forestland owners who abide by stricter logging regulations, Senate Bill 1502, was approved unanimously in both chambers.

The Legislature also voted overwhelmingly in favor of Senate Bill 1546, which would implement a new management strategy for the Elliott State Forest. The 90,000-acre property would remain under state ownership while managed by Oregon State University for forest research and timber harvest.

The three bills must now be signed by Gov. Kate Brown to become law.

Over the past four decades, Oregon’s legislative, executive and judicial branches haven’t been able to resolve the festering dispute between the timber industry and environmental groups over forest management, said Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton.

“Our institutions were not well-suited to doing that,” Helm said.

The recent timber bills are “different animals” because they were brokered by stakeholders ahead of the legislative session, which may serve as a model for resolving other longstanding problems, he said.

“Senate Bill 1501 embodies a monumental, if not historic, agreement for protections for our environment and for certainty for our timber economy,” Helm said.

Representatives of timber and environmental groups struck the Private Forest Accord deal in 2021 after a year of talks mediated by the governor’s office, which convened the panel to avoid the prospect of competing ballot measures on forestry regulations.

The history behind SB 1501 didn’t sit well for lawmakers such as Rep. Christine Goodwin, R-Roseburg, who said she’d vote against the bill to protest the “blackmail” of the timber industry.

“I am opposed to the pressures imposed on our timber industry to accept these compromises,” she said. “I’m opposed to the intimidation to accept this accord or else it could be much worse for the timber industry.”

The 44-page bill expands no-harvest buffers around streams, implements stricter requirements for road-building, prioritizes non-lethal control of beavers and creates a new modeling system to avoid and mitigate the effects of landslides.

The legislation is expected to set the stage for a federal Habitat Conservation Plan for the state’s private forests, which would shield landowners from liability under the Endangered Species Act when harvesting trees.

Several forest product companies and the Oregon Small Woodlands Association signed onto the Private Forest Accord with the understanding that it would provide more regulatory certainty and reduce the likelihood of disruptive lawsuits and ballot initiatives.

The agreement is costly for the timber industry, not only financially but also in terms of its unity, since some companies remain opposed to the new regulations, said Chris Edwards, president of the Oregon Forest & Industries Council.

However, there is too much at stake for the timber industry to roll the dice and move forward without the deal, he said during a legislative hearing on SB 1501.

“At its core, the Private Forest Accord is about protecting a future for forestry in Oregon,” Edwards said. “It’s also about turning the page on the timber wars of the past.”

Critics argue it complicates forest management, excludes excessive amounts of land from logging and was developed without sufficient transparency and public input.

Many members of the Oregon Farm Bureau who own forestlands believe the agreement is unworkable, said Lauren Smith, the organization’s director of government affairs.

“With the new harvest buffers in place, some of our members risk losing up to 50% of their harvestable timber and have stated they’re likely to sell their woodlands to larger owners or sell the minimum parcel sizes for home sites,” she said.

Under the agreement, small forestland owners are subject to less rigorous logging restrictions in recognition of their tendency to grow trees on a longer rotation cycle.

Small woodlands owners who choose to manage their properties under the stricter standards for larger landowners would be eligible for tax credits under SB 1502, which passed the Senate and House without an opposing vote.

Landowners with fewer than 5,000 acres who log less than 2 million board-feet a year would commit to leaving riparian trees unharvested for 50 years in exchange for tax credits, said Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland.

“Senate Bill 1502 will provide financial support for smaller forestland owners affected by the agreement,” she said.

Finally, SB 1546 would “decouple” the Elliott State Forest from the state’s Common School Fund, which provides money for education. The bill passed the Senate 22-4 and the House 50-8.

For years, the state forest wasn’t able to meet competing obligations to generate timber revenues for schools while complying with environmental regulations.

The bill directs more than $120 million to the Common School Fund while absolving the state property from having to raise money for it, though logging will be allowed under OSU’s research management.

“We’re going to have that working research forest that is going to have management happening of that sustainable and wonderful wood product that we love so much,” said Rep. David Brock-Smith, R-Port Orford.