The Bureau of Land Management will open 130 positions around Oregon as it aims to further increase timber sales in the state.
As it gears up to fill positions that will primarily include foresters, forestry technicians, land surveyors and heavy equipment operators, it will hold two information sessions on Friday, July 17 from 9-11 a.m. and 12-2 p.m. at the WorkSource office in Eugene, located at 2510 Oakmont Way.
FILE — Heavy equipment operators, like the one seen in this undated BLM file photo, are among the types of jobs the bureau is looking to hire to accommodate an increase in timber production around the state.
Courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Land Management / KLCC
BLM staff will be present to answer questions about vacancies around the state and help people navigate the federal application process.
“One of the reasons we’re looking to hire locally is because of places like Oregon State University,” said Matt Betenson, BLM’s Acting District Manager for Northwest Oregon. “They’re one of the premier forestry programs and talk about sustainable forest management. And hiring folks from local communities can help have that influence on what’s going to happen in those forests that people work and play in.”
Timber leases on BLM land in Oregon topped 241 million board-feet in fiscal year 2025 — which started in October 2024 — an increase of more than 15% from the previous fiscal year. Its sales so far in fiscal year 2026 are over 162 million board-feet.
“Timber is a sustainable resource, and it’s something that BLM has proudly been able to manage for the last 80 years,” Betenson said. “We’ve managed through a Resource Management Plan, and those plans help us define where to go, how frequently to go there and how sustainable the timber resource can be optimized for timber production as well as ecological concerns.”
Federal law mandates the BLM increase its nationwide timber sales by 20 million board-feet each year through 2034. Oregon’s increase more than met that requirement last year.
The BLM is currently facing a lawsuit over recent timber leases.
The plaintiffs, which includes Eugene-based environmental group Cascadia Wildlands, claim the bureau did not submit its 2016 resource management plan for the area for Congressional review, thus making any timber sale since then void.
Regional timber industry group American Forest Resource Council said the lawsuit “threatens to delay active forest management across 1.3 million acres just as Oregon enters another dangerous wildfire season.”
Zac Ziegler is a reporter with the KLCC newsroom. This story comes to you from the Northwest News Network, a collaboration between public media organizations in Oregon and Washington.
It is part of OPB’s broader effort to ensure that everyone in our region has access to quality journalism that informs, entertains and enriches their lives. To learn more, visit our journalism partnerships page.
