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Published: 2015

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The Oregon Administrative Rules contain OARs filed through November 15, 2015

 

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DIVISION 600
DEFINITIONS

629-600-0050
Forest Practice Rules
OAR chapter 629, divisions 600 through
680 are known as the forest practice rules.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 527.710
Stats. Implemented: ORS 527.710
& 527.715
Hist.: DOF 2-2013, f. 7-11-13,
cert. ef. 9-1-13
629-600-0100
Definitions
As used in OAR chapter 629, divisions 605
through 669 and divisions 680 through 699, unless otherwise required by context:
(1) "Abandoned resource site"
means a resource site that the State Forester determines is not active.
(2) "Active resource site" means
a resource site that the State Forester determines has been used in the recent past
by a listed species. 'Recent past' shall be identified for each species in administrative
rule. Resource sites that are lost or rendered not viable by natural causes are
not considered active.
(3) "Active roads" are roads
currently being used or maintained for the purpose of removing commercial forest
products.
(4) "Aquatic area" means the
wetted area of streams, lakes and wetlands up to the high water level. Oxbows and
side channels are included if they are part of the flow channel or contain fresh
water ponds.
(5) "Artificial reforestation"
means restocking a site by planting trees or through the manual or mechanical distribution
of seeds.
(6) "Basal area" means the area
of the cross-section of a tree stem derived from DBH.
(7) "Basal area credit" means
the credit given towards meeting the live tree requirements within riparian management
areas for placing material such as logs, rocks or rootwads in a stream, or conducting
other enhancement activities such as side channel creation or grazing exclosures.
(8) "Bog" means a wetland that
is characterized by the formation of peat soils and that supports specialized plant
communities. A bog is a hydrologically closed system without flowing water. It is
usually saturated, relatively acidic, and dominated by ground mosses, especially
sphagnum. A bog may be forested or non-forested and is distinguished from a swamp
and a marsh by the dominance of mosses and the presence of extensive peat deposits.
(9) "Channel" is a distinct
bed or banks scoured by water which serves to confine water and that periodically
or continually contains flowing water.
(10) "Chemicals" means and includes
all classes of pesticides, such as herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides, fungicides,
plant defoliants, plant desiccants, and plant regulators, as defined in ORS 634.006(8);
fertilizers, as defined in 633.311; petroleum products used as carriers; and chemical
application adjuvants, such as surfactants, drift control additives, anti-foam agents,
wetting agents, and spreading agents.
(11) "Commercial" means of or
pertaining to the exchange or buying and selling of commodities or services. This
includes any activity undertaken with the intent of generating income or profit;
any activity in which a landowner, operator or timber owner receives payment from
a purchaser of forest products; any activity in which an operator or timber owner
receives payment or barter from a landowner for services that require notification
under OAR 629-605-0140; or any activity in which the landowner, operator, or timber
owner barters or exchanges forest products for goods or services. This does not
include firewood cutting or timber milling for personal use.
(12) "Completion of the operation"
means harvest activities have been completed to the extent that the operation area
will not be further disturbed by those activities.
(13) "Conflict" means resource
site abandonment or reduced resource site productivity that the State Forester determines
is a result of forest practices.
(14) "Debris torrent-prone streams"
are designated by the State Forester to include channels and confining slopes that
drain watersheds containing high landslide hazard locations that are of sufficient
confinement and channel gradient to allow shallow, rapid landslide movement.
(15) "Department" means the
Oregon Department of Forestry.
(16) "Diameter breast height"
(DBH) means the diameter of a tree inclusive of the bark measured four and one-half
feet above the ground on the uphill side of the tree.
(17) "Domestic water use" means
the use of water for human consumption and other household human use.
(18) "Dying or recently dead
tree" means a tree with less than ten percent live crown or a standing tree which
is dead, but has a sound root system and has not lost its small limbs. Needles or
leaves may still be attached to the tree.
(19) "Estuary" means a body
of water semi-enclosed by land and connected with the open ocean within which saltwater
is usually diluted by freshwater derived from the land. "Estuary" includes all estuarine
waters, tidelands, tidal marshes, and submerged lands extending upstream to the
head of tidewater. However, the Columbia River Estuary extends to the western edge
of Puget Island.
(20) "Exposure categories" are
used to designate the likelihood of persons being present in structures or on public
roads during periods when shallow, rapidly moving landslides may occur.
(21) "Filling" means the deposit
by artificial means of any materials, organic or inorganic.
(22) "Fish use" means inhabited
at any time of the year by anadromous or game fish species or fish that are listed
as threatened or endangered species under the federal or state endangered species
acts.
(23) "Fledging tree" means a
tree or trees close to the nest which the State Forester determines are regularly
used by young birds to develop flying skills.
(24) "Foraging area" means an
area (usually a body of water) where bald eagles concentrate their hunting activities.
(25) "Foraging perch" means
a tree or other structure that overlooks a portion of a foraging area and is habitually
used by bald eagles as a vantage point while hunting.
(26) "Forestland" means land
which is used for the growing and harvesting of forest tree species, regardless
of how the land is zoned or taxed or how any state or local statutes, ordinances,
rules or regulations are applied.
(27) “Forest practice”
means any operation conducted on or pertaining to forestland, including but not
limited to:
(a) Reforestation of forestland;
(b) Road construction and maintenance;
(c) Harvesting of forest tree
species;
(d) Application of chemicals;
(e) Disposal of slash; and
(f) Removal of woody biomass.
(28) “Forest tree species”
means any tree species capable of producing logs, fiber or other wood materials
suitable for the production of lumber, sheeting, pulp, firewood or other commercial
forest products except trees grown to be Christmas trees as defined in ORS 571.505
on land used solely for the production of Christmas trees.
(29) "Free to grow" means the
State Forester's determination that a tree or a stand of well distributed trees,
of acceptable species and good form, has a high probability of remaining or becoming
vigorous, healthy, and dominant over undesired competing vegetation. For the purpose
of this definition, trees are considered well distributed if 80 percent or more
of the portion of the operation area subject to the reforestation requirements of
the rules contains at least the minimum per acre tree stocking required by the rules
for the site and not more than ten percent contains less than one-half of the minimum
per acre tree stocking required by the rules for the site.
(30) "Further review area" means
an area of land that may be subject to rapidly moving landslides as mapped by the
State Department of Geology and Mineral Industries or as otherwise determined by
the State Forester.
(31) "Geographic region" means
large areas where similar combinations of climate, geomorphology, and potential
natural vegetation occur, established for the purposes of implementing the water
protection rules.
(32) “Harvest type 1”
means an operation that requires reforestation but does not require wildlife leave
trees. A harvest type 1 is an operation that leaves a combined stocking level of
free to grow seedlings, saplings, poles and larger trees that is less than the stocking
level established by rule of the board that represents adequate utilization of the
productivity of the site.
(33) “Harvest type 2”
means an operation that requires wildlife leave trees but does not require reforestation.
A harvest type 2 does not require reforestation because it has an adequate combined
stocking of free to grow seedlings, saplings, poles and larger trees, but leaves:
(a) On Cubic Foot Site Class
I, II or III, fewer than 50 11-inch DBH trees or less than an equivalent basal area
in larger trees, per acre;
(b) On Cubic Foot Site Class
IV or V, fewer than 30 11-inch DBH trees or less than an equivalent basal area in
larger trees, per acre; or
(c) On Cubic Foot Site Class
VI, fewer than 15 11-inch DBH trees or less than an equivalent basal area in larger
trees, per acre.
(34) “Harvest type 3”
means an operation that requires reforestation and requires wildlife leave trees.
This represents a level of stocking below which the size of operations is limited
under ORS 527.740 and 527.750.
(35) "High landslide hazard
location" means a specific site that is subject to initiation of a shallow, rapidly
moving landslide. The following criteria shall be used to identify high landslide
hazard locations:
(a) The presence, as measured
on site, of any slope in western Oregon (excluding competent rock outcrops) steeper
than 80 percent, except in the Tyee Core Area, where it is any slope steeper than
75 percent; or
(b) The presence, as measured
on site, of any headwall or draw in western Oregon steeper than 70 percent, except
in the Tyee Core Area, where it is any headwall or draw steeper than 65 percent.
(c) Notwithstanding the slopes
specified in (a) or (b) above, field identification of atypical conditions by a
geotechnical specialist may be used to develop site specific slope steepness thresholds
for any part of the state where the hazard is equivalent to (a) or (b) above. The
final determination of equivalent hazard shall be made by the State Forester.
(36) "High water level" means
the stage reached during the average annual high flow. The "high water level" often
corresponds with the edge of streamside terraces, a change in vegetation, or a change
in soil or litter characteristics.
(37) "Hydrologic function" means
soil, stream, wetland and riparian area properties related to the storage, timing,
distribution, and circulation of water.
(38) "Important springs" are
springs in arid parts of eastern Oregon that have established wetland vegetation,
flow year round in most years, are used by a concentration of diverse animal species,
and by reason of sparse occurrence have a major influence on the distribution and
abundance of upland species.
(39) "Inactive roads" are roads
used for forest management purposes exclusive of removing commercial forest products.
(40) "Key components" means
the attributes which are essential to maintain the use and productivity of a resource
site over time. The key components vary by species and resource site. Examples include
fledging trees or perching trees.
(41) "Lake" means a body of
year-round standing open water.
(a) For the purposes of the
forest practice rules, lakes include:
(A) The water itself, including
any vegetation, aquatic life, or habitats therein; and
(B) Beds, banks or wetlands
below the high water level which may contain water, whether or not water is actually
present.
(b) "Lakes" do not include water
developments as defined in section (90) of this rule.
(42) "Landslide mitigation"
means actions taken to reduce potential landslide velocity or re-direct shallow,
rapidly moving landslides near structures and roads so risk to persons is reduced.
(43) “Landowner”
means any individual, combination of individuals, partnership, corporation or association
of whatever nature that holds an ownership interest in forestland, including the
state and any political subdivision thereof.
(44) "Large lake" means a lake
greater than eight acres in size.
(45) "Large wood key piece"
means a portion of a bole of a tree, with or without the rootwad attached, that
is wholly or partially within the stream, that meets the length and diameter standards
appropriate to stream size and high water volumes established in the “Guide
to Placement of Wood, Boulders and Gravel for Habitat Restoration,” developed
by the Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon
Department of State Lands, and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, January 2010.
(46) "Live tree" means a tree
that has 10 percent or greater live crown.
(47) "Local population" means
the number of birds that live within a geographical area that is identified by the
State Forester. For example: the area may be defined by physical boundaries, such
as a drainage or subbasin.
(48) "Main channel" means a
channel that has flowing water when average flows occur.
(49) "Natural barrier to fish
use" is a natural feature such as a waterfall, increase in stream gradient, channel
constriction, or other natural channel blockage that prevents upstream fish passage.
(50) "Natural reforestation"
means restocking a site with self-grown trees resulting from self-seeding or vegetative
means.
(51) "Nest tree" means the tree,
snag, or other structure that contains a bird nest.
(52) "Nesting territory" means
an area identified by the State Forester that contains, or historically contained,
one or more nests of a mated pair of birds.
(53) "Operation" means any commercial
activity relating to the establishment, management or harvest of forest tree species
except as provided by the following:
(a) The establishment, management
or harvest of Christmas trees, as defined in ORS 571.505, on land used solely for
the production of Christmas trees.
(b) The establishment, management
or harvest of hardwood timber, including but not limited to hybrid cottonwood that
is:
(A) Grown on land that has been
prepared by intensive cultivation methods and that is cleared of competing vegetation
for at least three years after tree planting;
(B) Of a species marketable
as fiber for inclusion in the furnish for manufacturing paper products;
(C) Harvested on a rotation
cycle that is 12 or fewer years after planting; and
(D) Subject to intensive agricultural
practices such as fertilization, cultivation, irrigation, insect control and disease
control.
(c) The establishment, management
or harvest of trees actively farmed or cultured for the production of agricultural
tree crops, including nuts, fruits, seeds and nursery stock.
(d) The establishment, management
or harvest of ornamental, street or park trees within an urbanized area, as that
term is defined in ORS 221.010.
(e) The management or harvest
of juniper species conducted in a unit of less than 120 contiguous acres within
a single ownership.
(f) The establishment or management
of trees intended to mitigate the effects of agricultural practices on the environment
or fish and wildlife resources, such as trees that are established or managed for
windbreaks, riparian filters or shade strips immediately adjacent to actively farmed
lands.
(g) The development of an approved
land use change after timber harvest activities have been completed and land use
conversion activities have commenced.
(54) "Operator" means any person,
including a landowner or timber owner, who conducts an operation.
(55) "Other wetland" means a
wetland that is not a significant wetland or stream-associated wetland.
(56) "Perch tree" means a tree
identified by the State Forester which is used by a bird for resting, marking its
territory, or as an approach to its nest.
(57) "Plan for an Alternate
Practice" means a document prepared by the landowner, operator or timber owner,
submitted to the State Forester for written approval describing practices different
than those prescribed in statute or administrative rule.
(58) "Relief culvert" means
a structure to relieve surface runoff from roadside ditches to prevent excessive
buildup in volume and velocity.
(59) "Removal" means the taking
or movement of any amount of rock, gravel, sand, silt, or other inorganic substances.
(60) "Replacement tree" means
a tree or snag within the nesting territory of a bird that is identified by the
State Forester as being suitable to replace the nest tree or perch tree when these
trees become unusable.
(61) "Resource site" is defined
for the purposes of protection and for the purposes of requesting a hearing.
(a) For the purposes of protection:
(A) For threatened and endangered
bird species, "resource site" is the nest tree, roost trees, or foraging perch and
all identified key components.
(B) For sensitive bird nesting,
roosting and watering sites, "resource site" is the nest tree, roost tree or mineral
watering place, and all identified key components.
(C) For significant wetlands
"resource site" is the wetland and the riparian management area as identified by
the State Forester.
(b) For the purposes of requesting
a hearing under ORS 527.670(4) and 527.700(3), "resource site" is defined in OAR
629-680-0020.
(62) "Riparian area" means the
ground along a water of the state where the vegetation and microclimate are influenced
by year-round or seasonal water, associated high water tables, and soils which exhibit
some wetness characteristics.
(63) "Riparian management area"
means an area along each side of specified waters of the state within which vegetation
retention and special management practices are required for the protection of water
quality, hydrologic functions, and fish and wildlife habitat.
(64) "Roosting site" means a
site where birds communally rest at night and which is unique for that purpose.
(65) "Roost tree" is a tree
within a roosting site that is used for night time roosting.
(66) "Saplings and poles" means
live trees of acceptable species, of good form and vigor, with a DBH of one to 10
inches.
(67) "Seedlings" means live
trees of acceptable species of good form and vigor less than one inch in DBH.
(68) "Shallow, rapidly moving
landslide" means any detached mass of soil, rock, or debris that begins as a relatively
small landslide on steep slopes and grows to a sufficient size to cause damage as
it moves down a slope or a stream channel at a velocity difficult for people to
outrun or escape.
(69) "Side channel" means a
channel other than a main channel of a stream that only has flowing water when high
water level occurs.
(70) "Significant wetlands"
means those wetland types listed in OAR 629-680-0310, that require site specific
protection, as follows:
(a) Wetlands that are larger
than eight acres;
(b) Estuaries;
(c) Bogs; and
(d) Important springs in eastern
Oregon.
(71) "Snag" means a tree which
is dead but still standing, and that has lost its leaves or needles and its small
limbs.
(72) "Sound snag" means a snag
that retains some intact bark or limb stubs.
(73) "Staging tree" is a tree
within the vicinity of a roosting site that is used for perching by bald eagles
before entering the roost.
(74) “State Forester”
means the State Forester or the duly authorized representative of the State Forester.
(75) "Stream" means a channel,
such as a river or creek, that carries flowing surface water during some portion
of the year.
(a) For the purposes of the
forest practice rules, streams include:
(A) The water itself, including
any vegetation, aquatic life, or habitats therein;
(B) Beds and banks below the
high water level which may contain water, whether or not water is actually present;
(C) The area between the high
water level of connected side channels;
(D) Beaver ponds, oxbows, and
side channels if they are connected by surface flow to the stream during a portion
of the year; and
(E) Stream-associated wetlands.
(b) "Streams" do not include:
(A) Ephemeral overland flow
(such flow does not have a channel); or
(B) Road drainage systems or
water developments as defined in section (90) of this rule.
(76) "Stream-associated wetland"
means a wetland that is not classified as significant and that is next to a stream.
(77) "Structural exception"
means the State Forester determines that no actions are required to protect the
resource site. The entire resource site may be eliminated.
(78) "Structural protection"
means the State Forester determines that actions are required to protect the resource
site. Examples include retaining the nest tree or perch tree.
(79) "Temporal exception" means
the State Forester determines that no actions are required to prevent disturbance
to birds during the critical period of use.
(80) "Temporal protection" means
the State Forester determines that actions are required to prevent disturbance to
birds during the critical period of use.
(81) “Timber owner”
means any individual, combination of individuals, partnership, corporation or association
of whatever nature, other than a landowner, that holds an ownership interest in
any forest tree species on forestland.
(82) "Tree leaning over the
channel" means a tree within a riparian management area if a portion of its bole
crosses the vertical projection of the high water level of a stream.
(83) "Tyee Core Area" means
a location with geologic conditions including thick sandstone beds with few fractures.
These sandstones weather rapidly and concentrate water in shallow soils creating
a higher shallow, rapidly moving landslide hazard. The Tyee Core area is located
within coastal watersheds from the Siuslaw watershed south to and including the
Coquille watershed, and that portion of the Umpqua watershed north of Highway 42
and west of Interstate 5. Within these boundaries, locations where bedrock is highly
fractured or not of sedimentary origin as determined in the field by a geotechnical
specialist are not subject to the Tyee Core area slope steepness thresholds.
(84) "Type D stream" means a
stream that has domestic water use, but no fish use.
(85) "Type F stream" means a
stream with fish use, or both fish use and domestic water use.
(86) "Type N stream" means a
stream with neither fish use nor domestic water use.
(87) "Unit" means an operation
area submitted on a notification of operation that is identified on a map and that
has a single continuous boundary. Unit is used to determine compliance with ORS
527.676 (down log, snag and green live tree retention), 527.740 and 527.750 (harvest
type 3 size limitation), and other forest practice rules.
(88) "Vacated roads" are roads
that have been made impassable and are no longer to be used for forest management
purposes or commercial forest harvesting activities.
(89) "Water bar" means a diversion
ditch and/or hump in a trail or road for the purpose of carrying surface water runoff
into the vegetation and duff so that it does not gain the volume and velocity which
causes soil movement or erosion.
(90) "Water development" means
water bodies developed for human purposes that are not part of a stream such as
waste treatment lagoons, reservoirs for industrial use, drainage ditches, irrigation
ditches, farm ponds, stock ponds, settling ponds, gravel ponds, cooling ponds, log
ponds, pump chances, or heli-ponds that are maintained for the intended use by human
activity.
(91) "Waters of the state" include
lakes, bays, ponds, impounding reservoirs, springs, wells, rivers, streams, creeks,
estuaries, marshes, wetlands, inlets, canals, the Pacific Ocean within the territorial
limits of the State of Oregon, and all other bodies of surface or underground waters,
natural or artificial, inland or coastal, fresh or salt, public or private (except
those private waters which do not combine or effect a junction with natural surface
or underground waters), which are wholly or partially within or bordering the state
or within its jurisdiction.
(92) "Wetland" means those areas
that are inundated or saturated by surface or ground water at a frequency and duration
sufficient to support, and that under normal circumstances do support, a prevalence
of vegetation typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands
include marshes, swamps, bogs, and similar areas. Wetlands do not include water
developments as defined in section (90) of this rule.
(93) “Wildlife leave trees”
means trees or snags required to be retained as described in ORS 527.676 (1).
(94) "Written plan" means a
document prepared by an operator, timber owner or landowner that describes how the
operation is planned to be conducted.
Stat. Auth.: ORS 527.710(1)
Stats. Implemented: ORS 527.630(5),
527.674 & 527.714
Hist.: FB 31, f. 6-14-72,
ef. 7-1-72; FB 39, f. 7-3-74, ef. 7-25-74; FB 1-1978, f. & ef. 1-6-78; FB 5-1978,
f. & ef. 6-7-78; FB 3-1983, f. & ef. 9-13-83; FB 1-1985, f. & ef. 3-12-85;
FB 2-1985(Temp), f. & ef. 4-24-85; FB 2-1987, f. 5-4-87, ef. 8-1-87; FB 4-1988,
f. 7-27-88, cert. ef. 9-1-88; FB 4-1990, f. & cert. ef. 7-25-90; FB 1-1991,
f. & cert. ef. 5-23-91; FB 7-1991, f. & cert. ef. 10-30-91; FB 3-1994, f.
6-15-94, cert. ef. 9-1-94; FB 5-1994, f. 12-23-94, cert. ef. 1-1-95; FB 9-1996,
f. 12-2-96, cert. ef. 1-1-97, Renumbered from 629-024-0101; DOF 6-2002, f. &
cert. ef. 7-1-02; DOF 13-2002, f. 12-9-02 cert. ef. 1-1-03; DOF 6-2005(Temp), f.
& cert. ef. 8-2-05 thru 1-27-06; DOF 8-2005, f. 12-13-05, cert. ef. 1-1-06;
DOF 7-2006(Temp), f.& cert. ef. 6-27-06 thru 12-23-06; DOF 1-2007, f. &
cert. ef. 1-8-07; DOF 2-2013, f. 7-11-13, cert. ef. 9-1-13

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