Land Use Update: Urgent Action Needed to Protect Trails in Tillamook State Forest

OMRA is calling on riders and trail users to take immediate action to protect trails in the Tillamook State Forest that are at risk due to planned logging operations and unnecessary road construction.

Logging plans scheduled to begin in 2023 include impacts that could destroy existing trail systems, including single-track trails built, maintained, and funded by volunteers and OHV users over decades. The public comment period to voice concerns about these plans closes tomorrow night (Sunday, May 1), and it is critical that trail users speak up now.

OMRA supports responsible forestry and understands the importance of working forests. This is not a call to stop logging. It is a call for respectful planning — one that treats trails as valuable resources rather than obstacles to be erased.

Trail users are asking the Oregon Department of Forestry to:

• Respect existing trail infrastructure

• Work in partnership with trail staff and volunteers

• Avoid turning single-track trails into temporary logging roads

• Restore and clean up trails after operations are complete

Volunteers and riders have invested countless hours and significant ATV Fund dollars into building and maintaining these trails. That investment deserves protection.

How to Take Action Right Now

1. Visit the Oregon Department of Forestry comment page:
   https://www.oregon.gov/odf/recreation/pages/comment.aspx

2. In the subject area, select “Annual Operations Plans for Fiscal Year 2022”

3. Paste the comment text below (or write your own message in your own words)

4. Submit your comment before the deadline

Suggested Comment Text:

Next year’s logging plans in the Tillamook State Forest were not developed with respect for the trail resources or the volunteers who built and maintain them. Trail users support responsible logging in a working forest, but not at the expense of existing trails. We ask that trail staff expertise be respected, that trails be protected during operations, and that damaged trails be fully restored afterward. Single-track trails should not be turned into temporary logging roads. Respect for all forest resources is essential.

This is a moment where individual comments truly matter. If we do not speak up, we risk losing more trail systems that cannot easily be replaced.

Let’s make our voices heard and protect the trails that make Tillamook State Forest a cornerstone of Oregon riding.