The Private Forest Accord (PFA) was a landmark agreement made between representatives from Oregon’s timber industry, the Oregon Small Woodlands Association, and prominent conservation and fishing organizations in 2022, to modify portions of Oregon’s forest practice laws and regulations in a way that expands protections for fish and amphibians while providing long term regulatory assurances. The changes to the Oregon Forest Practices Act are aimed at avoiding and minimizing the effects timber harvests and other forest management activities on private forestlands have on these species and the aquatic habitats they depend on. The PFA improves the protections of the stream network by relying on rigorous and modern scientific approaches to delineating the fish bearing and perennial stream networks to ensure that streams are fully protected under the correct management system for the type of stream and through increased coordination with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW). The PFA called for expanded no-cut buffers along streams, which are areas where trees must be left unharvested, and new standards for forest roads and culverts to remove barriers to fish passage and limit sediment runoff. A key part of the PFA involves the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) developing a federally approved Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) for private forestlands, which is a planning document designed to accommodate economic development while protecting threatened or endangered species. The PFA also established the ODFW mitigation fund and grant program to support projects that benefit fish and aquatic species, as well as to address the impact of timber harvest and forest practices. Watershed-scale investments in projects like stream habitat restoration, removal of barriers to fish passage, cold water and flow protection, beaver-modified habitat creation, and more will create statewide benefits for the species covered by the Private Forests HCP. These voluntary updates will limit adverse effects of sedimentation and turbidity to surface waters and represent a success story for productive partnerships in limiting pollutant impacts to fish, wildlife, and habitats.