Bill > SB511

This bill establishes a salmon habitat restoration pilot program in Oregon's Coquille and Coos watershed basins, designed to create financial incentives for agricultural and forestland owners to voluntarily restore salmonid (salmon) habitats. The program allows landowners (called "credit generators") to develop restoration projects and earn "salmon credits" - instruments that represent the ecological improvement of water resources. These credits can be purchased by other entities to satisfy environmental mitigation requirements. The Department of State Lands will manage the program, setting rules for project approval, credit valuation, and establishing a Salmon Credit Trust Fund. Credit generators will receive payments (salmon credit dividends) based on the credits generated and must convey a permanent easement to the state for the restored habitat area. The program requires consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to develop a federal permit for restoration activities, and it will become operative once such a permit is established. The pilot program is time-limited, with the Department of State Lands able to approve new projects only for six years after the permit's establishment. The bill aims to improve wild coho and chinook salmon populations by incentivizing habitat restoration while providing a financial mechanism for landowners to participate in environmental conservation efforts.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2025R1/Measures/Overview/SB511