Vision and Guiding Principles

This page contains information about the Vision and Guiding Principles from the 2026 Corvallis Forest Stewardship Plan (CFSP). The Vision and Guiding Principles provide the foundational philosophy of how the Corvallis Forest is managed. These were originally developed in the 2006 CFSP, updated in 2013, and revised again for this current 2026 CFSP. 

The Corvallis Forest Stewardship Plan Update Task Force and Corvallis Public Works staff started the public process by updating the Vision and Guiding Principles in February 2023 with an introduction and discussion of the Vision and concluded in June 2023 with City Council approval of the final version. The updates reflect changes in resource conditions, new considerations in resource management, and current community values since the adoption of the previous CFSP. Policies, Standards and Guidelines rely on the Vision and Guiding Principles to provide overall direction fro the property. In turn, they serve as sideboards for management activities which help to achieve the desired future conditions on the Corvallis Forest. 

Vision statement: 

The Corvallis Forest within the Rock Creek Watershed is a model for sustainable forest management practices, esteemed by Corvallis residents as a diverse forested landscape that provides numerous benefits, including safe and reliable drinking water, resilience to climate change, diverse terrestrial and aquatic habitats for native species, and abundant carbon storage.

Guiding Principles:

Resource Principles

• The Corvallis Forest will be managed to support source water protection for the production of high-quality water for the City of Corvallis.

• The Corvallis Forest will be managed to prioritize protection of desired ecosystem functions including diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats.The Corvallis Forest will be managed in a way that considers and promotes the climate benefits of forests (such as carbon storage) in context with other resources (such as water quality and habitat diversity).

Approach Principles

• The Corvallis Forest will be managed to be comprised of a variety of different habitat and age structures and compositions to provide diversity of terrestrial and aquatic habitats.

• The Corvallis Forest will be managed for resilience to fire, invasive species, insects, disease, and climate change.

• The Corvallis Forest will be managed in consideration of the numerous tradeoffs that occur with balancing multiple resource objectives.

• The City will control access to the Corvallis Forest to minimize the risk of fire, water contamination, and the introduction of invasive species.

Other Principles

• The Corvallis Forest will be a good neighbor by recognizing and managing for integration into the larger landscape, and its connections to the greater watershed.

• The Corvallis Forest will be available for approved educational, recreational, and research opportunities.

A comparison between the updated (2026) and previous (2013) Vision and Guiding Principles can be found below.