Region Archives: United States

Just as the microorganisms in the human gut play a crucial role to our well-being, microorganisms in forests are essential to forest stability. Researchers at the University of Idaho are working to understand exactly how those microorganisms respond when faced with stressors, such as drought and wildfires, and what their role could be in helping trees survive. Principal investigator Tara Hudiburg, who is leading the project, is a professor in the university’s forest, rangeland and fire science department. This year she and her research team received a six-year, $15 million grant from the National Science Foundation to study how microorganisms in Idaho forests respond to stress and how they rely on each other to survive. …The project – coined EMBER, or the Embedding Molecular Biology in Ecosystem Research – can help scientists and forest managers better understand which of those microorganisms can help tree species endure harsh conditions under a warming climate.

OREGON — A statewide “wildfire risk map” that drew the ire of many Oregonians will return in several weeks with few changes but with a new name following a yearlong makeover. The new “wildfire hazard map,” set to debut in mid-to-late July, will not differ in substance too much from the previous map published in 2022, according to Chris Dunn, an Oregon State University forestry professor and wildfire expert. That first map was quickly taken offline due to public backlash over many areas classified as high risk. Property owners saw the map as a state attempt to regulate their properties, and it coincided with some insurers raising premiums. In the new Map some grass and ranch lands will no longer be considered at high-risk depending on what they’re used for. The replacement of the word “risk” with “hazard” indicates that the map is an environmental assessment, not an assessment of individual properties. 

Edward Ring

Practical solutions to California’s energy and water shortages will always have a better chance of Edward Ringbeing implemented if they adhere to the limitations placed upon them by those concerned about climate change. A solution that should work for everyone is forest thinning. It will save our forests, with the added benefit of increasing our water supply. …California’s forests today have tree densities that are many times what is historically normal, and conditions are more dangerous because we’ve reduced our annual timber harvest from 6 billion board feet per year in the 1990s to around 1.5 billion board feet today. …But what about water? It turns out that forest thinning also reduces the amount of water that is immediately taken up by the roots of overcrowded trees and undergrowth and transpired into the atmosphere. Instead, more of this water can run off into tributaries or percolate to recharge springs.

MONTANA — Federal Judge Dana Christensen has stopped the Flathead National Forest from implementing its forest plan for the 2.4 million acres because the U.S. Forest Service ignored the impact of roads on the endangered grizzly bear and bull trout populations. In his decision, which mostly upheld federal magistrate Kathleen DeSoto’s initial ruling, he said that the Forest Service continues to ignore the impacts of closed roads and unauthorized motor vehicle use. …The U.S. Forest Service, which doesn’t comment on pending litigation as a matter of policy, continues to disregard or ignore roads that have existed, but are no longer used, according to the order from the U.S. District Court. Because the U.S. Forest Service has not permanently closed them, returning them to a natural or impassable state, the roads are still used, the judge said, even if illegally.

Washington faces significant social and economic risks if anti-forestry groups succeed in persuading the Board of Natural Resources and candidates for commissioner of public lands to close an additional 77,000 acres of public working forests, including those in Lewis County. These working forests, known as Department of Natural Resources (DNR) state trust lands, are not just sources of timber; they provide clean water, wildlife habitat, climate change mitigation and recreational opportunities. The proposed closure severely impact public schools, local public safety agencies, public health services, universities and other essential community services. Under the state constitution and state law, DNR state trust lands must be managed to generate timber harvest revenues for defined beneficiaries, including public schools, local public safety agencies and various community services. This proposal to shut down working forests not only threatens these critical services, but also jobs throughout Washington, leading to negative impacts for the state’s infrastructure and economy.

Since the Pacific Northwest’s “timber wars” of the 1990s, the federal Northwest Forest Plan has managed conservation and logging interests in regional forests. The plan was formulated by a team of scientists from several fields, tailoring their rules to mandates from Congress. The Forest Service announced that it was looking to update those rules. But Oregon environmental advocates say those rules, among many others issued by federal regulatory agencies, could now come under threat. The Supreme Court overturned what’s known as the Chevron decision, a longstanding precedent that lower federal courts should defer to agencies — staffed by experts — on “reasonable” rule changes to enforce legislation. …Associated Oregon Loggers said the Chevron reversal will require Congress to legislate more precisely, reducing ambiguity in individual regulatory agencies’ mandates. “While small business forest professionals often support federal agencies’ expertise in public forest management projects, this change may help reduce politically driven agency overreach,” the association said.

SEATTLE — As temperatures soar across Washington this week, so too will the risk of wildfire, state officials say. The hot weather (expected to hit triple digits in some places), ongoing drought and heavy gusts of wind form the three pillars of what is expected to be “near record” wildfire danger, according to the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center’s Monday morning briefing. Risk will be at its highest on Wednesday for the area east of the Cascade Crest, stretching toward the Idaho border, the center’s analysis shows. The National Weather Service issued a fire watch through that evening for portions of Asotin, Columbia, Garfield and Walla Walla counties, citing the dry and unstable conditions. “It is essentially the perfect weather recipe not only to spark wildland fires but, after a potential ignition, to expand them,” said Ryan Rodruck, communications manager with the state Department of Natural Resources. And the vast majority of wildfires are sparked by people.

Teresa Leger Fernández

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two years after the U.S. Forest Service sparked what would become the largest and most destructive wildfire in New Mexico’s recorded history, independent investigators say there are gaps that need to be addressed if the agency is to be successful at using prescribed fire as a tool to reduce risk amid climate change. The investigation by the Government Accountability Office was requested by U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández after communities in her district were ravaged in 2022 by the Hermit’s Peak-Calf Canyon Fire. The congresswoman wanted to know what factors the Forest Service had identified as contributing to the escape of prescribed fires over the last decade and whether the agency was following through with reforms promised after a pause and review of its prescribed burn program. The report made public Monday notes there were 43 escapes documented between 2012 and 2021 out of 50,000 prescribed fire projects.