Deep inside Oregon’s state policy process, work is underway that could eventually influence how lawmakers approach forests, farms, ranchlands, watersheds, transportation, energy and future climate spending across the state. The Oregon Climate Action Commission is developing its 2026 Report to the Legislature, and Tuesday’s meeting of the Natural Climate Solutions Committee places Oregon’s natural and working lands squarely within that discussion. For Southern Oregon, where forests, agriculture, water, wildfire and rural economies are closely intertwined, the recommendations that eventually emerge from this process could carry particular relevance.
The Natural Climate Solutions Committee is scheduled to meet virtually Tuesday, August 11, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. The meeting is part of a larger series being conducted between July and September as four Commission committees examine priorities and develop possible recommendations for the legislative report. The work remains preliminary, and the committee itself cannot create laws, impose regulations or authorize spending. Its recommendations, however, can move forward for consideration by the full Oregon Climate Action Commission and potentially become part of the formal report delivered to state lawmakers.
The process is broader than Tuesday’s discussion. Committees are separately examining natural climate solutions, transportation and energy, while a Report Committee is considering issues that cross those individual policy areas and helping assemble the Commission’s overall recommendations. Transportation held an initial meeting August 4, followed by the Energy Committee on August 7. Tuesday’s Natural Climate Solutions meeting completes the first round of discussions among the major subject committees, with additional meetings scheduled through early September.
The legislative connection is established under Oregon law. The Climate Action Commission is required to submit a report by December 1 of every even numbered year describing Oregon’s progress toward its greenhouse gas reduction goals. The Commission also has authority to recommend statutory changes, administrative actions and other policy measures. That gives the biennial report a role beyond simply documenting state programs because recommendations developed through the Commission can eventually be placed before legislators responsible for writing laws, approving budgets and determining whether proposed programs move forward.
For Southern Oregon, natural climate solutions represent considerably more than a technical discussion about greenhouse gases. The term encompasses forests, agricultural lands, wetlands, grasslands and other natural and working landscapes capable of storing carbon. Oregon has been developing methods for measuring carbon stored across those landscapes and evaluating how management practices affect carbon storage over time. The state has also examined the workforce, training programs and infrastructure needed to implement natural climate projects, connecting environmental policy with employment, state investment and natural resource management.
Those subjects intersect directly with the physical and economic landscape of Southern Oregon. Josephine, Jackson, Douglas and Klamath counties contain extensive public and private forestlands, farms, ranches, rivers and watersheds. Communities throughout the region routinely confront wildfire danger, drought, forest health concerns and complicated questions surrounding water availability. Forestry and agriculture remain economically important in many rural communities, while rivers and watersheds support fisheries, recreation, tourism, habitat and local businesses. Any future state policy involving natural and working lands therefore has the potential to reach communities well beyond Salem.
Oregon has already committed public money to this policy area. House Bill 3409, approved by the Legislature in 2023, expanded the state’s natural climate framework and established the Natural and Working Lands Fund. Approximately $10 million was initially appropriated and distributed among the Oregon Department of Agriculture, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Those agencies administer programs involving agriculture, forestry, wildlife, watersheds and restoration projects throughout Oregon, including substantial work in the southern portion of the state.
Future recommendations could potentially address how that funding framework develops. Additional appropriations could support forest restoration, watershed improvements, agricultural conservation projects, technical assistance or incentives available to landowners. Recommendations could also address how Oregon measures carbon stored on natural lands, how agencies evaluate projects or which programs receive priority when state funding is allocated. Those possibilities remain under consideration, however, and none should be interpreted as an approved policy, new mandate, tax or restriction.
That distinction is particularly important for farmers, ranchers, forestland owners and rural residents who may hear discussions about natural climate policy and assume regulatory changes are imminent. Tuesday’s meeting does not change Oregon law. The committee does not possess legislative authority, and the full Commission cannot independently enact statutes. Recommendations would first have to survive the Commission’s internal process, and proposals requiring changes in law or additional appropriations would ultimately depend upon action by the Oregon Legislature.
The next significant stage arrives Friday, August 14, when the full Oregon Climate Action Commission is scheduled to meet virtually from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Commissioners are expected to receive a preview of the Natural and Working Lands Fund Annual Report along with a summary of initial committee discussions concerning the 2026 legislative report. Written public comments submitted by 5 p.m. Tuesday are expected to be provided to commissioners before that meeting, allowing public input to become part of the record as the Commission continues developing its priorities.
Committee work will continue through the end of summer. Transportation is scheduled to meet again August 25, followed by Energy on August 26 and Natural Climate Solutions on September 1. The Report Committee is scheduled to reconvene September 4. As those meetings progress, broad discussions are expected to become more specific as commissioners determine which ideas warrant inclusion in the final report and which should be modified or left behind.
The Commission is expected to move toward adoption of its recommendations in October before completing the report required for submission to lawmakers by December 1. Until recommendations are finalized, the precise effects on Oregon residents cannot be determined. The eventual report could contain proposals involving additional spending, changes to state programs, administrative actions or statutory changes, but those outcomes will depend on what the Commission adopts and what lawmakers subsequently decide to pursue.
For Southern Oregon, the importance of the process rests in the region’s relationship with the land itself. Forest management can affect wildfire resilience and rural employment, watershed projects can influence rivers and fisheries, agricultural programs can reach farms and ranches, and state investments can determine where restoration and conservation work occurs. Those connections make the development of Oregon’s natural climate recommendations a state government process with potentially significant regional consequences.