The state's forest practices policy manager has presented early findings of a study on landslides at a meeting of the Douglas Small Woodlands Association in Southern Oregon.

Ted Lorenson of the Oregon Department of Forestry said the study confirms that the frequency of landslides during the first 10 years on timber-harvested land was twice as high as slides on forested slopes.

Agency scientists will present their findings to the state Board of Forestry during its March 5 meeting in Salem.

It's "very likely" landowners will be asked to temporarily stop cutting in slide-prone areas where public safety is a concern, he said. Still, he said, deferring harvests won't guarantee safety.

The agency also may recommend deferral on building new structures in debris flow paths. "The folks that decide where to locate homes need to be part of the solution, too," Lorenson said.

Although landslides will occur sooner on recently harvested land, they can occur naturally even on forested slopes.

"Sooner or later, these sites are going to fail," he said. "We don't want to create a false sense of security."