Tell Oregon’s Delegation to Oppose H.R. 7603 and Protect O&C Forests

Why this Matters

The O&C lands are the checkerboard of BLM public forests running through western Oregon, including the Coast Range hills above the Alsea River. Representative Cliff Bentz has introduced H.R. 7603, the "O&C Renewal Act of 2026", which would make timber production to fund county governments the primary purpose of those forests.

Cascadia Wildlands warns the bill would put maximizing logging above every other value: weakening safeguards for fish and wildlife, shrinking stream protections, and opening vast areas of public forest to the kind of large-scale clearcutting that pushed coho salmon and northern spotted owls toward extinction in the first place. Those are our streams and our birds. The coho that return to Alsea tributaries every fall start life in water these forests shade.

This comes on top of the BLM's western Oregon plan revision, already underway, so the pressure on these forests is arriving from two directions at once. Oregon's congressional delegation needs to hear from the people who live among these trees: oppose H.R. 7603. This action is for Oregon residents.

Steps to Take

Step 1

Send a message to Oregon's congressional delegation through the Cascadia Wildlands action form, urging them to oppose H.R. 7603. The form is set up for Oregon residents.

Step 2

Make it personal. Name an O&C place you know: the Alsea watershed, a Coast Range trail, a stream where you have watched salmon return. Specific places from real constituents are what staffers remember.

Step 3

Read the text of H.R. 7603 on Congress.gov if you want the details, then pass this along to a neighbor. These forests sit in our backyard, and the delegation should hear it from the coast directly.

Sample Text

Option 1

As an Oregonian, I urge you to publicly oppose H.R. 7603, the O&C Renewal Act of 2026. This bill would make maximizing timber harvest the primary purpose of the BLM forests that run through our Coast Range, shrinking stream protections and weakening safeguards for coho salmon and northern spotted owls. Oregon's counties deserve stable funding, but not by returning our public forests to the clearcutting of the 1970s and 80s. Please speak out against this bill. Thank you.

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Option 2

Hi, my name is [name] and I live in [town], Oregon. I am asking you to oppose H.R. 7603, which would prioritize logging over clean water and wildlife on the BLM's O&C forests in western Oregon. These forests are where our salmon streams begin. Please stand up for them and oppose this bill. Thank you.