Rural Oregon Freedom Project

Begun in the Fall of 2005, the Rural Oregon Freedom Project addresses a wide range of freedom-related issues of interest to rural residents, including timber and agriculture policy, public lands management, educational freedom, rural economies, gun rights and more. Local control, property rights and self-sufficiency are guiding themes. Though focused primarily on issues of the Pacific Northwest, and Oregon specifically, it has wider application for rural America generally.

Read More
 
IMPORTANT OREGON FACTS:
General:
 

  • 2008 Population:
    Urban: 2,951,628
    Rural: 838,432
    Total: 3,790,060
  • 2007 Income per Capita:
    Urban: $37,045
    Rural: $28,531
    Statewide: $35,143
  • 2007 Poverty rate:
    Urban: 12.3%
    Rural: 15.2%
    Statewide: 13%
Agriculture:
 

  • 2007 Average farm size:
    425 acres
  • 72% of Oregon farms are 99 acres or less
  • 67.5% of farms earn less than $9,999.00
  • 38,553 farms in Oregon
  • 98.4% of farms are family owned in Oregon
  • 2008 Top agriculture commodity:
    Greenhouse & nursery products: $1,011,301,000 

     

  • 2008 All commodities value:
    $4,376,534,00
Forestry:
 

  • Forest sector generates approximately $12.6 billion annually
  • Approximately 76,500 people work in the forest sector
  • 2008 Timber harvest:
    3.44 million board feet
  • Timber harvest by land ownership:
    83% private forestlands, 8% Federal, 7% State,
    1% Tribal, 1% other Public.
  • Forestland management classifications:
    Wood production= 36%,
    Multi-Resource=33%,
    Reserve=31%
  • Oregon Forest Practices Act was passed in 1971
  • A clearcut cannot exceed 120 acres within a single ownership
Land:
 

  • 2007 Total land in Oregon: 61,431,594 acres
    • 52.7% is federally owned land
    • 26.7% is farmland
    • 17.4% is private timberland
    • 1.6% is owned by the State or counties
    • 1.6% is Urban

  • 2007 Total farmland in Oregon: 16,399,647 acres, 26.7% of Oregon
  • 2009 Total forestland in Oregon: 30,472,000 acres, 59% of Oregon
    • 18,245,000 acres owned by Federal government = 60%
    • 10,668,000 acres in private ownership = 35%
    • 940,000 acres in State ownership = 3%
    • 463,000 acres in tribal ownership = 1.5%
    • 156,000 acres in other public ownership = .5%
Water:

  • Oregon has 1,200 large dams and 30,000 smaller dams
  • Hydroelectric dams supply approximately 50% of Oregon’s energy
  • Oregon has more than 1,400 lakes
  • There is 111,619 stream miles in Oregon
  • Oregon’s annual rainfall for entire state = 28 inches
    • Western Oregon rainfall ranges from 40 to 140 inches per year
    • Eastern Oregon rainfall ranges from 10 to 20 inches per year

Click HERE for a map of the Public Land in Oregon

PUBLICATION LINKS