Timber Harvest Operations
The OSU Research and Demonstration Forests are a network of 10 actively managed forest tracts spanning 18,000 acres across Oregon. For more than a century, these forests have served as living laboratories — places where research, education, demonstration and recreation intersect.
Stewarded by the College of Forestry, the forests demonstrate how active, science-based forest management can advance ecological health, sustainable wood production and the social values forests provide to communities.
Across the statewide network, the OSU Research Forests support:
- Hands-on education and workforce development
- Faculty-led research on forest management, climate resilience, wildfire, carbon storage and biodiversity
- Outreach and demonstration for landowners and practitioners
- Wildlife habitat and ecosystem services
- Sustainable wood production
- Public access for hundreds of thousands of annual visitors each year
Active Management Across the Research Forest Network
Sustainable timber harvest is one of several management activities across the research forests — and it enables all others. The OSU Research Forests are financially self-sustaining and receive no operating funds from the university, the college, the state or taxpayers. Revenue generated through timber harvest is fully reinvested into research, stewardship, infrastructure, restoration and recreation.
Forestry operates on decades-long timeframes. Harvest does not occur everywhere at once. Instead, small portions of different forests are managed at different times to maintain long-term forest health, support resilience and provide a consistent supply of sustainably grown wood products while limiting short-term impacts to recreation and access.
Across the network, harvest treatments are designed to:
- Reduce overcrowding and improve tree vigor
- Increase structural and species diversity across the landscape
- Restore native habitats, including oak, madrone and meadow systems where appropriate
- Sustain reliable wood production
- Support applied research and hands-on student learning
- Maintain safe, high-quality recreational access
- Protect and maintain cultural heritage sites present on the Research Forests
2026 Harvest Operations
In 2026, harvest activity is planned on five of the 10 research forests — McDonald, Dunn, Matteson, Blodgett and Tualatin. These operations will impact approximately 311 acres of the 18,000-acre network, or about 1.7% of total forestland.
Expand the drop-downs below or click the quick links at the bottom of the page to learn more about the harvest activity planned for the 2026 season.
The upcoming harvests on the McDonald-Dunn are guided by the recently adopted 2025 McDonald-Dunn Forest Plan, developed through a three-year collaborative process involving faculty, students, Tribal partners, community members and agency stakeholders.
The plan establishes an adaptive framework for stewardship in a changing climate and reinforces the forest’s role as an actively managed, financially self-supporting landscape balancing research, education, ecological resilience, sustainable wood production and public access.
Key elements of the 2025 Plan include:
- A reduced sustainable average annual harvest level of approximately 4.3 million board feet — nearly 30% lower than the previous plan
- More than tripling the acreage stewarded toward older forest conditions
- Expanded research on climate resilience and carbon storage
- Increased opportunities for ecological restoration in partnership with Tribal nations
The McDonald-Dunn Forest is the most heavily visited forest in the network and a primary site for student training and applied research. Students participate in harvest planning, field layout and monitoring as part of their coursework and professional preparation.
Five units are scheduled for harvest on the McDonald-Dunn as part of the 2026 harvest plan, impacting approximately 261 of the forest’s 11,500 acres (about 2.3% of the landscape). The projected harvest volume is approximately 4.17 million board feet, below the 4.3 million board feet annual level established in the 2025 Plan.
- 155 acres will be thinned
- 104 acres will be managed through regeneration or group selection harvests with structural and/or visual retention
- 2 acres will focus on oak release
- 3 acres will focus on meadow restoration
- 7 acres are reserved to protect mature forest ecosystems
- 10 acres are designated as visual buffers near popular recreation areas
All of the planned treatments support the objectives of establishing new age classes, diversifying forest structure and improving long-term resilience while remaining within the reduced harvest levels established in the 2025 plan.
In addition to the five planned projects, a forest-wide salvage operation will take place to remove trees downed or damaged during a significant windstorm in December 2025. The salvage harvest will recover value, reduce safety hazards and limit future fuel accumulation. As an unplanned response to storm damage, total salvage volume will not be known until operations are complete. Salvage volume is not calculated as part of the planned annual harvest target, but is incorporated into harvest volumes averaged over a five-year period.
There are also two harvest units — Fat Cat and Mori — originally contracted as part of the 2025 harvest plan but postponed due to economic conditions. The acreage and timber volume for these harvests were accounted for in the year they were originally scheduled and are therefore not included in the 2026 harvest acreage or volume totals. These projects are included in the interactive harvest map because they may temporarily affect recreational access and operations. The Fat Cat harvest is currently underway, while Mori has not yet been rescheduled but will be completed prior to the conclusion of the 2027 harvest season.
Most of the forest will remain open during operations. Temporary trail or road closures may occur for safety, including at the Oak Creek gate to accommodate operations including log hauling.
Learn more about the planned harvests on the McDonald Dunn for the 2026 season by viewing the Virtual Harvest Tour.
Stay up-to-date on closures via our Forest Updates page.
The 180-acre Rubie P. Matteson Demonstration Forest is located near the west shore of Hagg Lake near Gaston, Oregon, in Washington County. The forest serves as a site for Extension programming, education and community engagement.
In 2025, OSU Extension and the College of Forestry led a public planning process with community members, agencies, forestry partners and the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde. The resulting guiding principles focus on forest education, collaborative stewardship and demonstrating climate-informed ecological forestry.
Harvests planned for 2026 support these goals and include:
- 5.6 acres of group selection harvest to create small openings and increase structural diversity
- 9.25 acres of oak release to reduce conifer competition and promote Oregon white oak habitat
Creating small openings will also expand habitat conditions needed by species such as Kincaid’s lupine and Fender’s blue butterfly. The Institute for Applied Ecology plans to conduct surveys to evaluate the presence of these species within the forest.
The 2,440-acre Blodgett Tract is located in Columbia County near the upper Nehalem basin. The forest borders the Clatsop State Forest and is otherwise surrounded by private industrial timberlands.
The Blodgett tract was donated to the College of Forestry with the intent that it be managed for timber production and serve as a demonstration forest within Oregon’s coastal production landscape. Today, it sustains yield while modeling alternative management approaches for students, Extension audiences and landowners within an operational forest setting.
The 2026 harvest units are located adjacent to ongoing research installations, including long-term regeneration monitoring that has tracked stand development for nearly 30 years. The tract also contributes to studies examining structural retention and post-harvest forest dynamics.
In 2026:
- Two harvest units totaling just over 11 acres — less than 0.5% of the forest — are planned
- Treatments will include regeneration harvests with structural retention of approximately 6 to 10 trees per acre
- The projected yield is approximately 679,000 board feet
These harvests establish new age classes, maintain long-term productivity and support research within an actively managed production forest.
The Tualatin Mountain Forest was acquired at no cost to the college in 2025. The acquisition was led by the Trust for Public Land, with funding provided through the U.S. Forest Service Forest Legacy Program and Metro Regional Government, and coordinated in partnership with the Oregon Department of Forestry. Located just northwest of Portland, the forest is OSU’s first research forest in the metro area and presents long-term opportunities for restoration, research, education and youth programming.
A short-term forest management plan for the Tualatin Mountain Forest is in development now, and more information on planned harvest activities for 2026 will be available upon approval of the plan this spring.