Weyerhaeuser nearly doubles Oregon fee-access acres

Weyerhaeuser Co. has nearly doubled the acreage of its holdings that will only be available to hunters and other recreational users under paid leases and permits this year.

The number of acres in Oregon under the timber company's lease program has almost tripled from 38,132 acres in 2014, the inaugural year of the program, to 107,134 this year. Leases are granted via a bidding process and include more perks than access permits.

The number of acres for which those permits will be sold has more than doubled from 320,062 in 2014 to 625,980.

According to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, about 58 percent of Weyerhaeuser's holdings, 1,274,796 acres, will be under the fee-access program, and added that the timber company plans additional changes to the program in the future.

The expansion of the fee program will affect more wildlife management units, or more of the lands within some units for hunters during the coming big-game seasons.

Because of that, Fish and Wildlife advised hunters to check for access before applying for controlled-hunt tags.

The list of hunting units affected by the access restrictions is online at stjr.nl/2015_Units.

Information about the lease/permit program is available on Weyerhaeuser's website at http://www.stjr.nl/2015_fee_access.

Or contact the company at (888) 741-5403.