Proposed forest plan could triple logging across northeastern Oregon forests

A federal plan that could more than triple commercial logging across the Blue Mountains is set to reshape the Wallowa-Whitman, Umatilla and Malheur national forests for the next two decades, with Union County mills, roads, watersheds and wildfire planning all in the balance. The U.S. Forest Service expects to release a draft environmental impact statement soon, opening a 90-day comment period that will give local officials, landowners, timber interests, conservation groups and recreation users their most direct chance to influence the plan before a decision now listed for August 2027.

The three forests cover about 5.5 million acres, roughly the size of New Jersey, across eastern Oregon and southeastern Washington. The Forest Service says the current forest plans were signed in 1990, and the revision is meant to update the framework for ecological, social and economic changes over the past 32 years. For Union County, that means the stakes are not abstract: a larger logging program could affect wildfire risk, access along forest roads, timber jobs tied to local mills and contractors, and the health of watersheds that feed downstream communities.

The revision did not begin as a clean slate. The Forest Service started an earlier attempt in 2018, but it stalled under intense public scrutiny. The agency later formed the Blue Mountain Intergovernmental Collaborative, bringing together county officials, tribal members and other stakeholders to help shape the process. That backdrop matters for Union County because it shows how much local leverage depends on sustained participation, especially before the draft plan is finalized and the window for major changes narrows.

Public engagement has already started. The Forest Service published a Notice of Intent on August 5, 2025, and opened a 60-day comment period that ran through October 4, 2025. In May, the agency announced a series of June public meetings to build awareness of the coming draft environmental impact statement and draft land management plan. Once those documents are released, residents will have at least 90 days to comment, a period that will likely determine how much timber harvest, road work, habitat protection and recreation access survive into the final plan. For Union County, the next few months will help decide how the forests around it are managed for years to come.