US Forest Service seeks local voices for advisory committee seats

Union County residents who want a voice in federal forest decisions have until July 13 to apply for one of 15 seats on the Northeast Oregon Resource Advisory Committee. The panel covers the Malheur, Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman national forests, putting Union County inside a nine-county advisory boundary that reaches across the Blue Mountains.

The committee is not just a symbolic advisory group. Under the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, local RACs review Title II project proposals, monitor approved projects and recommend changes or adjustments. Forest Service guidance says the committees generally meet up to four times a year, and members serve without compensation, although travel expenses and per diem may be available.

For Union County, the most immediate connection is the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. That makes the application window relevant to people who hunt, ranch, recreate, advocate for conservation or work in timber and local government, because the Forest Service says the committee is meant to balance interests such as recreation, grazing, environmental groups, timber, tribal interests and local elected officials. The agency also says members can come from a mix of private industry, schools, local government and environmental organizations.

Applicants must live in Oregon and, as much as practical, within the advisory committee boundary. The Secretary of Agriculture will appoint members after reviewing application materials, with selections based on education, training and experience in the area each applicant represents, plus a commitment to collaborative decision-making and to keeping the committee broadly balanced. The Northeast Oregon RAC has operated before, including a recruitment cycle in January 2025.

The broader federal framework is active again, too. The national Secure Rural Schools advisory committee charter was filed May 19, 2026 and runs through May 19, 2028. On April 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it intended to establish 84 Secure Rural Schools Resource Advisory Committees nationwide. The structure dates to the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act, signed into law on Oct. 30, 2000.

In practical terms, the seats offer a rare chance for local voices to influence how small but important forest projects are prioritized in a region where public land use, wildfire risk, recreation and rural economic activity intersect.