Region Archives: United States

ARLINGTON, Washington — About 13 miles from town, nature stood still as a forester for the state Department of Natural Resources measured the age of a Douglas fir near a timber sale site known as Stilly Revisited. …At Stilly Revisited, forest activists are concerned about protecting old growth trees and — in a valley still healing from the deadly Oso mudslide in 2014 — preventing future slides. They also question how Stilly Revisited and three other pending timber sales in Snohomish County meet a DNR goal to conserve 10% to 15% of old growth and structurally complex forests in the department’s Northwest Washington region. …But the DNR’s crew of geologists, foresters and timber sale managers are tasked with addressing individual harvests. The state’s Board of Natural Resources is responsible for broader policies. DNR is “conservative” about harvesting trees on public lands, said DNR Cascade District Manager Mark Arneson.

A rusty brown bark beetle, the length of a grain of rice, lands on a ponderosa pine. Tiny insect legs make a clicking sound, as the beetle scales the tree. The miniature assassin readies itself to bore into the pine, often the tree’s death knell. This scene is from Episode 3 Breaking Point of the Netflix documentary Our Living World, which explores how climate change is upending the natural world. U.S. Forest Service scientists Chris Fettig, Danny Cluck and Leif Mortenson served among the film’s scientific consultants on bark beetles taking the camera crew into the forest for filming. “Even though the bark beetle scene only lasts four minutes, it took days of filming,” Fettig stated. …The executive producer first approached Fettig about assisting with the documentary in 2019, to which he gave a resounding ‘yes!’ “I thought it was a great opportunity to amplify our work to a public audience,” Fettig stated.

SALEM, Oregon – The Oregon Department of Forestry seeks to fund projects that improve urban and community forests in areas of Oregon that need it the most. ODF’s Urban and Community Forestry Program received $26.6 million from the Inflation Reduction Act through the U.S. Forest Service. Out of this, $10 million will be awarded to the nine Federally Recognized Tribes of Oregon, and $12.5 million will be available for all eligible entities in Oregon. This opportunity promotes equal access to the benefits of trees and aims to get more people involved in tree planting and comprehensive urban forest management. “This is going to be a game-changer for Oregon,” said Scott Altenhoff, ODF’s UCF Program Manager. “This is the largest and most significant urban and community forestry investment in Oregon’s history.” Proposals can be submitted starting, July 1, through Sept. 30.

Michael O’Casey

BEND, OREGON — Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot were two of the original architects of the National Forest System, and their foresight led to the establishment of today’s 193 million acres of national forests. These abundant public lands provide habitat for fish and wildlife and recreational opportunities valued by hunters and anglers. Managing these lands for wildlife habitat, clean water, recreation, timber, and other multiple uses was no walk in the park when the Forest Service was founded and has become more complex as new science and challenges emerge. …The future of our forests depends on pragmatic, sustainable forest management to accomplish what Roosevelt and Pinchot envisioned nearly 120 years ago. A system established for the “greatest good for the greatest number over the longest period.” The Forest Service has the opportunity to manage old growth stands for conservation while promoting locally led forest management initiatives that benefit forests, communities, and wildlife alike. 

This week the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service placed protections for this elusive member of the weasel family on 1.2 million acres located in northern California and southern Oregon. The carnivorous, cat-seized coastal marten was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2020. But it took a lawsuit from the environmental group the Center for Biological Diversity for the marten’s home ranges to be finally designated as critical habitat. The organization sued the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service after the agency missed a deadline to enact the protections. A critical habitat designation means federal projects in those areas, including funding and permitting, need to take into account any harmful impacts to the marten. …There’s only around 400 coastal martens left in the wild after disappearing from some 93% of their historic range. Also known as Humboldt and Pacific martens, the animals have faced threats from trapping, logging and wildfire.

Gov. Gianforte and Pete Seigmund

KALISPELL, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte this week continued his fourth annual 56 County Tour as governor, visiting Flathead and Powell counties to highlight the importance of active forest management to reduce wildfire risk and fuel the state’s timber industry. “When a forest is managed properly, we have less severe wildfires, more recreational opportunities, more wildlife habitat, and more jobs,” Gov. Gianforte said. “And as we better manage our lands, we increase timber yields to fuel our wood products industry – it’s a win-win for Montana.” …During the visit, the governor heard from foresters on the benefits of management for healthier forests and to produce commercial-value timber. Spotlighting the wood products industry and visiting Sun Mountain Lumber in Deer Lodge yesterday, the governor toured the mill and talked with owners on the legacy of the family business and the importance of forest management to produce timber.

Montanans appreciate locally grown food, from vegetables to fresh-picked huckleberries, raw honey and grass-fed beef. Can we say the same about our wood products? Your community would rally to keep a local rancher in business. Won’t you do the same to keep a local sawmill in business? By supporting the local forest industry in Montana you are ensuring that wood products are coming from forests managed with some of the most stringent environmental laws in the world. The Missoula Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) supports investment in our local forest products industry, especially right now. We are currently facing a land management crisis brought on by two recent mill closure announcements in Missoula County. …We urge Montanans who rely on the forest for their lifestyle and livelihood to realize that investment is not limited to a monetary value.

The balsam woolly adelgid is killing subalpine fir trees in lower elevation forests across the Wasatch Mountains. New research tracks how climate change could expand their habitat. Adults measure a mere millimeter long, and their name comes from the white, woolly-waxy shells they produce to protect the hundreds of amber colored eggs they lay. That fuzz is their most obvious tell, other than the destruction they leave behind. Balsam woolly adelgids are now in Utah, and they are spreading. New research from the University of Utah maps their current habitat and the severity of the insects’ damage. It also offers a warning: Climate change and the subsequent warming of the mountains could cause these tiny harbingers of tree sickness and death to thrive.

Oregon Women in Lumber (OWL), a new coalition dedicated to championing and elevating women in the forest products sector, held its inaugural workshop, “How Women Rise,” at the historic McMenamins Kennedy School in Portland, OR on May 16, 2024. The event was attended by 100 women from the Pacific Northwest forest sector, representing forestry, manufacturing, sales, international trade and a variety of related fields. The workshop, led by Stefanie Couch of Build Women, focused on helping women break through the unique barriers they face in their professional lives, allowing them to take control of their careers and rise to new heights of success. The event also featured a panel discussion with five esteemed women leaders from the forest products sector.

EVERETT, Washington — Agencies in Snohomish County are crafting a new countywide Community Wildlife Protection Plan to help them be even better prepared for the next big wildfire. In early May, the federal government gave the county’s Department of Emergency Management $250,000 to work on the plan. The project aims to identify where wildland firefighting resources are, where terrain makes fighting fires or evacuating residents difficult, and how to streamline fuel management. …The plan will also look at evacuation routes and other information that could help agencies make quick decisions when dealing with a fast-moving fire. …The wildfire protection plan will also be attached to the county’s larger hazard mitigation plan. It would split the county into geographic areas, to pinpoint each region’s needs. …Fire and emergency management officials have been pushing for a countywide fire mitigation plan since the Bolt Creek fire in 2022.

Chris Chambers

ASHLAND, Oregon — On a clearing overlooking Siskiyou Mountain Park in Ashland, a navy blue helicopter is making laps back and forth up the forested hillside. …In areas of this forest, anywhere from 20-80% of the fir trees are dead.” …Chris Chambers worries that a large wildfire could permanently change this forest if hotter temperatures driven by climate change make it hard for fir trees to grow back after a fire. He says this thinning work will help soften the blow. If we don’t stay ahead of it, then we might not have a forest in 20, 30, 40 years”. The work in the Ashland watershed is aimed at the symptoms of the Douglas fir die-off. But it doesn’t explain why the trees are dying. …Max Bennett is a retired Oregon State University extension forester. He’s been researching this fir tree die-off, and he co-authored a 2023 paper called “Trees on the Edge.”