Your Property Taxes & Your Forest Land

Property is generally valued and taxed based on real market value or what that property would sell for in the real estate marketplace. Oregon’s property tax system has some different twists and turns. The Oregon Legislature established several special assessment programs that help reduce property taxes for forestland owners who manage their property primarily for the purpose of growing and harvesting trees. Join us and learn a little more about how Oregon’s property tax system works. What is the difference between real market value and assessed value? Which forestland programs are available to you and how is forestland valued? Learn how to apply for programs, what property qualifies, and how to reduce your taxes. Bring the questions you’ve always wanted to ask and we will provide answers.

Originally aired on May 5, 2020

Instructors:

Lynn Longfellow, Clackamas County Appraisal Manager
Tony Hunter, Clackamas County Senior Appraiser
Bronson Rueda, Clackamas County Deputy Assessor

Resources:

Want to learn more about this topic? Explore more resources from OSU Extension: Finance, budgeting and taxes, Forest health and management

Was this page helpful?

Related Content from OSU Extension

How to Manage Your Forest - Module 2: Management Practices

Learn practical, research-based skills and techniques covering a wide array of valuable forest management topics that will help you achieve your goals and objectives.

Bob Parker, Steve Bowers, Tristan Huff, Stephen Fitzgerald, Paul Adams, Paul Oester, Dave Shaw, Fran Cafferata Coe, Julie Woodward, Nicole Strong | May 2018 | Video Peer reviewed (Gray level)

How to Manage Your Forest - Module 1: Silviculture

Our first online training module covers Silviculture, or the art and science of managing forests to achieve your objectives, with nine sections to view.

Glenn Ahrens, Bob Parker, Paul Oester, Stephen Fitzgerald | May 2018 | Video Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Students go outdoors to learn about natural resources at forestry tour

This year two dozen public, private, Montessori and home-based schools signed up for the tour, with 830 students attending.

Chris Branam | Jun 17, 2024 | News story

Oregon agriculture by the numbers, part 3: farm real estate value

Learn the value of farm real estate in Oregon and how it has evolved since the previous census was taken in 2017 and in comparison to the nation as a whole.

Daniel Bigelow | May 2024 | Article Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Selling Logs from Your Property: A Curriculum Package for Educators in the Western U.S.

Selling logs is one of the most important decisions a landowner can face. This curriculum package for forestry educators brings together consulting foresters, log buyers and loggers to teach participants how to get...

Lauren Grand, Alicia Christiansen, Francisca Belart, Tamara Cushing, Chris C. Schnepf, Kelsey Ketcheson | Apr 2020 | Extension Catalog publication Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Forests and Woodlands: Protecting an Ecosystem

Learn to manage your forested property in ways that protect water quality, maintain soil health, reduce the threat of fire and improve wildlife habitat. This publication is one of a series of Land Steward Rural Resource Guidelines.

Max Bennett, Don Goheen, Jack Duggan | Dec 2019 | Extension Catalog publication Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Episode 49: The Oregon Wildfire Hazard Map

“It includes that best available science with that first round of input from fire and fuels professionals on the fuels, but then it also includes observations from and feedback from county planners, local land managers, and the other folks that know their landscapes.” -Andy McEvoy

Carrie Cantrell | May 2024 | Podcast episode Peer reviewed (Gray level)

New Forest Landowner Introduction

Learn more about how to manage your forest land from Steve Fitzgerald in Oregon State University Extension's Forestry program.

Stephen Fitzgerald | Aug 2010 | Video

The Scribner Volume and Value Tables: Bucking for Maximum Revenue

This publication is a spreadsheet with accompanying instructions. It allows timber owners to compare the pricing strategies for four different mills to determine which mill specifications will return the highest ...

Steve Bowers | Nov 2013 | Extension Catalog publication Peer reviewed (Orange level)

Start planning early: Things to consider when selling trees from your property

For landowners, selling trees on their property takes planning. They must know what they're selling, ensure access to their property, get estimates from tree buyers and loggers, and arrange for reforesting if required.

Lauren Grand | Dec 2018 | Article Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Bees in the woods

Videos and other resources that help you enhance bee and pollinator habitat on your small private forestland

Lauren Grand | Oct 2022 | Collection Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Vine Maple, Acer circinatum

Use the arrows to the right and left of the photo to navigate through the photos. Then the back arrow to return to the Educational Gallery home page.

May 2020 | Educational gallery

Episode 48: Reducing the Fire Risk in Northwest Oregon

Learn how to mitigate the risk of fire on your property!

Carrie Cantrell | Apr 2024 | Podcast episode Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Episode 47: Managing Forest Carbon

This episode features an interview with Catherine Carlisle, a forest carbon analyst, discussing forest carbon dynamics, management practices, and carbon projects with Jacob Putney. They discuss ecosystem carbon sequestration, the influence...

Apr 2024 | Podcast episode

How OSU Extension Forestry connects in our communities

How Extension teaches best practices that enhance the soil, air and water quality, and how the program is important to family and community success.

Mary Stewart, Neil Bell, Michael Calcagno | May 2018 | Video

Douglas-fir insect pests in drought-stressed trees

Douglas-firs usually do not tolerate extreme drought conditions well. In this article, you'll learn the most common insects in a drought-stressed or dead Douglas-fir, the damage they cause, and some suggestions for reducing that damage.

Ellen Michaels Goheen, Don Goheen | Jun 2018 | Article Peer reviewed (Gray level)

Managing to Keep Your Forest Healthy

Is something wrong with your trees? How do you keep your forest healthy? How might climate change affect your trees? When something goes wrong people tend to look for specific causal agents such as bark beetles or root ...

Glenn Ahrens | Apr 2020 | Video

Forest project focuses on planning and managing for fire at landscape scale

Go Big or Go Home explored the effects of different restoration strategies on forest conditions and fire behavior

Emily Jane Davis | Mar 2019 | Impact story

Have a question? Ask Extension!

Ask Extension is a way for you to get answers from the Oregon State University Extension Service. We have experts in family and health, community development, food and agriculture, coastal issues, forestry, programs for young people, and gardening.

Ask us a question