Region Archives: US West

Business & Politics

Proposed sawmill and wood processing facility near Truckee sparks community response

By Zoe Meyer
Sierra Sun
July 19, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

TRUCKEE, Calif. – A proposed industrial development, including a sawmill and wood processing facility, has elicited concern among local residents. Friends of Prosser Truckee, has formed to address the project, set to be located approximately 3.5 miles out of town. …Residents are worried that the proposed Alpenglow Timber project will impact their neighborhood and surrounding areas. Concerns include traffic and safety; noise pollution; and property values. …Situated on an 18-acre site north of Truckee, the facility will be partially funded by grants from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the U.S. Forest Service. The project will work to enhance community protection and wildfire risk mitigation by processing logs from forest health and fire recovery projects. It will also create 10 permanent full-time jobs and more than 15 indirect jobs, with an annual economic impact of $5.4 million. The site is zoned appropriately, and studies show minimal traffic and noise impact.

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Seeley Lake, Montana in crosshairs of changing economy

By Terry Moran
ABC News
July 15, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Missoula County’s timber industry has taken a harsh hit not because of low timber prices but because of soaring home prices. ABC’s Terry Moran reports on the fallout.

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Fallout of Merritt mill closure is ‘devastating,’ says company VP

By Cheyanna Lorraine
Vernon Now
July 14, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: Canada, US West

MERRITT, BC — The recent closure of Merritt’s last standing mill has been described as a “devastating” hit to the community. In June, AP Group announced the closure of its Aspen Planers mill in the small town. …Bruce Rose confirmed that roughly a hundred direct jobs have been affected by the mill closure. …Although AP Group has other facilities in Savona and Lillooet and even a biomass plant in Merritt, Rose says the impacts to former employees and the community will be significant. “It’s just very sad for people, for all of these rural, forest dependent communities, it’s devastating. And the industry doesn’t need to be like this,” he said. …As for the 100 or so employees without work, Rose said “it’s a real mixed bag” that included a few who were offered and accepted jobs in Savona while others are considering retirement.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

Mercer Mass Timber Selected to Provide Sustainable Building Materials for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library

Mercer Mass Timber
July 17, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

SPOKANE, WA — Mercer Mass Timber (MMT), a subsidiary of Mercer International Inc., will provide mass timber for the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota’s Badlands. This project honors the president’s legacy of conservation by utilizing locally sourced and renewable resources, like mass timber. In partnership with general contractor, JE Dunn, MMT will provide mass timber design assistance, materials, and coordination and logistics for the project, including the signature roof structure. MMT’s mass timber will contribute to the project’s ambitious sustainability goals, aiming for zero energy, water, emissions and waste. The Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library will sit on 93 acres in Medora, North Dakota, situated near the Burning Hills Amphitheater. The library will be a single-story, large footprint museum building with 93,000 square feet of interior space that includes interactive galleries, community spaces, a cafe, and an auditorium.

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How wind and storm surge destroy buildings and how construction might improve this perennial issue

By Mark Gokavi
Colorado State University
July 11, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West
 

COLORADO — Buildings in the paths of Atlantic Ocean hurricanes should be built on pilings with special attention to strong connection points involving roofs, walls and foundations, according to a Colorado State University faculty member and structural engineer. Michael O’Reilly, a master instructor in CSU’s Department of Construction Management, answered questions about how hurricanes destroy buildings, what can be done better in coastal construction, and if there is any structure that is “hurricane-proof.” CSU hurricane researchers have predicted a well-above-average season in 2024 with 23 named storms, 11 hurricanes and five major tropical cyclones. Hurricane Beryl reached Category 5 status July 1, the earliest a recorded Atlantic Ocean storm has hit that status….Wind affects all sides and the roof of the building in different ways. The windward wall will “feel” pressure inward; the leeward wall will feel suction outward. 

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Forestry

Researchers enhance tool to better predict where and when wildfires will occur

By Sean Nealon and Erica Fleishman
Oregon State University
July 22, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CORVALLIS, Ore. – A newly enhanced database is expected to help wildfire managers and scientists better predict where and when wildfires may occur by incorporating hundreds of additional factors that impact the ignition and spread of fire. “There is a tremendous amount of interest in what enables wildfire ignitions and what can be done to prevent them,” said Erica Fleishman, an Oregon State University professor. The Fire Program Analysis Fire-Occurrence Database was developed in 2013 by the U.S. Forest Service and since been updated five times. It incorporates basic information such as ignition location, discovery date and final wildfire size. The revised database now includes many new environmental and social factors, such as topography and vegetation, social vulnerability and economic justice metrics, and practical attributes such as the distance from the ignition to the nearest road.

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Forest restoration efforts pay off

By Peter Aleshire
White Mountain Independent
July 20, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

ARIZONA—Navajo County last week celebrated hard won gains in the decade-long effort to protect fire-prone communities. An effort to save the timber industry in the White Mountains and thin overgrown forests has doubled the annual acres thinned while skirting the edge of financial disaster, government relations director Rochelle Lacapa told the supervisors at its last meeting. Navajo County Supervisor Jason Whiting currently heads the Northern Arizona Counties Association, which has taken the lead in saving the struggling timber industry and keeping forest-restoration efforts alive. The Apache Sitgreaves National Forests now hand out contracts for thinning projects in the White Mountains that cover about 16,000 acres annually. A decade ago, the White Mountains Stewardship Program managed to thin about 8,000 acres per year, while receiving a Forest Service subsidy of about $3,000 to $5,000 per acre. That effort is widely credited with saving Alpine and perhaps Springerville from the Wallow Fire.

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Nearly half a million ‘invasive’ owls, including their hybrid offspring, to be killed in the United States

By Harry Baker
Live Science
July 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: US West, International

U.S. wildlife officials plan to kill nearly half a million “invasive” barred owls (Strix varia) over three decades, new documents confirm. Experts say the cull is needed to help protect the native northern spotted owls (Strix occidentalis caurina) and California spotted owls (Strix occidentalis occidentalis), which have been put under threat from the invaders. However, animal rights activists have condemned the plan as cruel and unnecessary. Barred owls are large and native to eastern North America. In the early 20th century, these owls started moving west of the Mississippi River… As a result, the owls have gained a stronghold in Washington, Oregon and California, where they are considered an invasive species. The arrival of barred owls in the Northwest has adversely affected the two native owl species that have also been impacted by logging activity over the last few decades, which has majorly reduced their range.

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Daltons named tree farmers of the year in Oregon

The Polk County Itemizer-Observer
July 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Jock and Pam Dalton

Pam and Jock Dalton of Polk County have been selected Oregon’s Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year for 2024. The Oregon Tree Farm System (OTFS) presented the award at the Oregon Family Forest Convention in June. …Pam Dalton has deep roots on the family’s 700+ acre tree farm near Dallas. The farm has been in her family since 1917. Jock plays an integral role in actively managing the forest with Pam. The Oregon Tree Farm System emphasizes the values of wood, water, wildlife, and recreation. Pam and Jock epitomize the attention tree farmers give to the sustainability of all four values. …The Daltons harvest timber and replant, as well as promoting forest health and growth through a pre-commercial and commercial thinning regime. …For 58 years, the Oregon Tree Farm System has recognized family forest landowners who provide forest benefits and products using sound forestry management.

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Bitterroot National Forest – Fire Danger Raised to Extreme

By Alexandra Stuart, Forest Service
The US Department of Agriculture
July 17, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Hamilton, Montana — Just days after going to “Very High” fire danger, the Bitterroot National Forest announced today that it is raising its fire danger level to “Extreme” and will go into Stage 2 fire restrictions starting Friday, July 19, due to continued hot weather and record dry fuel conditions. Extreme is the highest fire danger level possible.  When fire danger is “Extreme,” fires start quickly, spread furiously, and burns intensely.  All fires are potentially serious and development into high intensity burning will be faster and occur even on smaller fires.  Direct attack – fire fighters using direct methods to suppress a fire – is rarely possible and may be dangerous except immediately after ignition. … Forest officials are asking the public to be especially careful when camping and visiting the forest.

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Oregon releases new draft wildfire hazard map

By April Ehrlich
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Oregon State University and the Oregon Department of Forestry will release the proposed wildfire hazard map at 8 a.m. Thursday. There, Oregonians can look up specific tax lots to see how susceptible they are to wildfires. This is Oregon’s second attempt at creating a wildfire map. State fire officials and OSU first released a map in 2022 under a tight one-year deadline set by Senate Bill 762. That first iteration received intense public backlash, particularly from property owners concerned it would affect their homeowners’ insurance. The state ultimately rescinded it. ….Once the map is finalized in October, the state’s Building Code Division will begin its administrative process for creating new building codes, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal will begin creating rules for defensible space. Both processes will have opportunities for public comment.

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California’s wildfires are burning far more land so far this year than in 2023

By Ayana Archie
NPR – National Public Radio
July 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

So far in this year’s California’s wildfire season, about 20 times more acres of land have burned than around this time last year. Since the beginning of the year, there were more than 3,500 wildfires across the state through early July, causing about 207,000 acres of land to burn. Around this time last year, about 10,000 acres had burned. The five-year average of acres burned through mid-July is about 39,000, Cal Fire said last week. “We are not just in a fire season, but we are in a fire year,” Joe Tyler, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire), said at a news conference earlier in July. …As part of its 2024 budget, California will allocate $2.6 billion through 2028 to fighting wildfires and improving forest health, in addition to $200 million annually to help prevent fires. 

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Waldport says it will test city water and monitor herbicide spraying on 110-acre Weyerhaeuser clearcut

By Garret Jaros
Yachats News
July 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

WALDPORT, Oregon – A plan to spray herbicides on a Weyerhaeuser clearcut near one of Waldport’s municipal water sources has drawn condemnation by people who oppose the practice and triggered city officials to take precautionary measures. City officials have not yet been notified when ground spraying on the 110-acre “Pankey Pit” clearcut located immediately east of Waldport on Mount Eckman will begin, the 14-day public comment period required before any action ends Wednesday. …The City’s plan includes having an observer on site during the spray, shutting down the water intake for 72 hours and conducting water tests to determine if any contaminates exist. …“This is out of an abundance of caution,” city manager Dann Cutter told YachatsNews. “We will be on site and monitoring, but only a very narrow portion of the logged area falls into the watershed above our intake. Their mapping shows a significant buffer zone.”

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Prescribed Fires Enhance Forest Resilience

By Brent Skaggs and Craig Thomas, The Fire Restoration Group
The Nevada Globe
July 16, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

This opinion editorial is a rebuttal toBurn Back Better? USFS Chief’s Letter Of Intent Provokes Revolt In The Firefighting CommunityOne of the best methods for reducing the impact of wildfires is to reduce the number of trees per acre by thinning the larger trees and following up with prescribed fire, to enhance forest resilience, by removing surplus smaller trees that act as ladder fuels and potentially killing the larger trees in a wildfire. …Let’s … support the Forest Service when in “Full Suppression” mode and when implementing fuels treatment projects. We need to armor against the uninformed individuals who throw rocks and promote untrue and misleading characterizations of fuels treatments the Forest Service has accomplished using beneficial fire. It is time we push back and use all our collective influence to cooperatively work together and with the Fire and Smoke Management Agencies to reduce the flammability of California’s and Nevada’s fire-prone landscapes.

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Fire Is a Major Threat to California Spotted Owls—but Could it Also Help Save Them?

By Ashley Braun
National Audubon Society
July 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

In recent years, California wildfires have taken on increased severity and reshaped the landscape. California Spotted Owls in the state’s central and southern forests—have been feeling that heat: Destructive megafires burned more of their habitat in 2020 and 2021 alone than in the previous 35 years. Experts say these growing disasters represent the most urgent threat to the birds. Recognizing this mounting menace—along with other hazards—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last year announced plans to give the birds Endangered Species Act protections. Yet the California Spotted Owl’s best hope, counterintuitively, may also lie in fire. Research increasingly suggests that lower-severity burning not only inoculates many drier forests against destructive megafires, but also creates the mosaic of habitat types that the birds gravitate toward. …fire will frame the future for these birds, either devouring the forests they need to survive or clearing a path toward a safer future.

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Reforestation project to restore Mexican spotted owl habitat, support tribal landscape initiative

By John Scaggs, Tonto National Forest
US Department of Agriculture
July 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

ARIZONA—The USDA Forest Service is developing a five-year plan to reintroduce native plants and ponderosa pine trees in a 551-acre section of the Telegraph Fire burn scar to reestablish habitat for the Mexican spotted owl. Restoration also will support the San Carlos Apache Tribal Forest Protection landscape, one of 21 landscapes the Forest Service recently identified as part of the agency’s 10-year strategy for confronting the wildfire crisis, by reducing wildfire exposure to communities within the San Carlos and Fort Apache reservations. The Telegraph Fire burned through 180,757 acres in June 2021 on the Tonto National Forest Globe Ranger District. The fire reduced the Mexican spotted owls’ nesting source (ponderosa pine) and protected activity centers. These centers sustain and enhance sections of the forest that are presently, recently or historically occupied by breeding Mexican spotted owls.

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Judge: Pintler Face commercial logging can continue

By Laura Lundquist
Missoula Current
July 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Commercial logging may proceed in a Forest Service project south of Anaconda, but all other activities must cease until a lawsuit is concluded, according to a federal judge. On Friday, two and a half weeks after hearing oral arguments, Missoula federal district judge Dana Christensen issued his ruling granting most of the plaintiffs’ request for an injunction to stop the Pintler Face Project on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. All noncommercial activity, such as thinning and prescribed burning, will be put on hold across the 73,000-acre project until the lawsuit is concluded, but Christensen allowed the four commercial timber sales to go forward to prevent economic hardship. The logging work is slated to start on July 16. …Mike Garrity, Alliance for the Wild Rockies executive director, said he was happy that the judge said the plaintiffs are likely to win the lawsuit on the merits.

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Wildfire smoke has a silver lining: It can help protect vulnerable tree seedlings

Oregon State University
July 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Forest scientists at Oregon State University studying tree regeneration have found that wildfire smoke comes with an unexpected benefit: It has a cooling capacity that can make life easier for vulnerable seedlings. …Smoke’s impact on maximum and average near-surface temperature was similar to the temperature reduction caused by an increase of 15% in canopy cover, OSU College of Forestry research assistant Amanda Brackett said. The finding is line with the idea that while smoke can cause a range of concerns, fire is a natural forest occurrence with ecological upsides. …“Smoke absorbs and scatters incoming solar radiation, reducing how much reaches the forest floor, but we did not anticipate seeing this level of impact,” she said. “That extra cooling effect may be important during extreme heat events when canopy cover and topography do not provide enough protection from harmful and potentially lethal temperatures in the understory.”

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Mount Hood National Forest prohibits campfires, Oregon wildfire danger increases

By Emma Logan
The Salem Statesman Journal
July 11, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

As warm and dry weather is forecast to stick around, fire danger begins to increase in forests across the state. Here is where campfire bans and fire danger levels stand across forests. Mount Hood National Forest prohibits all campfires. Beginning Friday, all fires will be prohibited in Mount Hood National Forest. This includes all campfires, charcoal or briquette fires, pellet fires and any other open fires. Portable cooking stoves, lanterns and heating devices using liquefied or bottled fuel are still allowed as long as they can be instantly switched off. Mount Hood National Forest is the first to announce a total fire ban in the state. Oregon’s hot weather has caused fire danger to rise and with the dry and warm long-term forecast, the risk for wildfire increases. Fire personnel anticipate the potential for fires to continue to remain high through the season, the agency said in a news release.

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This University of Idaho research could change how we manage our forests

By Mia Maldonado
The Idaho Capital Sun
July 12, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

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.

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New wildfire hazard map will be released with few changes after yearlong makeover

By Alex Baumhardt
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
July 10, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

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. 

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California Farm Bureau Commentary: Logging Can Protect Forests, Increase Water Supplies

By Edward Ring, California Farm Bureau
Sierra Sun Times
July 10, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

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.

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Federal judge stops Forest Service plan for Flathead Forest over endangered species

BynDarrell Ehrlick
The Big Fork Eagle
July 10, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

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.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Northern California Wildfire Burns in Carbon Offset Project

By Matthew Pera
The Lookout
July 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

A Northern California wildfire is burning in a vast swath of land where trees are protected in exchange for so-called carbon credits. The Shelly Fire, which ignited July 3 in Siskiyou County, has spread across thousands of acres of land owned by the Portland-based Ecotrust Forest Management, or EFM. The investment firm protects the trees on its land, rather than clear-cut logging them as some neighboring landowners do. Storing carbon on the land in the form of trees allows the company to sell carbon credits intended to offset the harmful climate effects of other activities. …The Shelly Fire has burned across about 11,000 acres of EFM’s 18,000-acre carbon storage project in Siskiyou County. This raises questions about the viability of carbon storage projects in areas prone to high-severity fire. Much of EFM’s carbon offset plot …was covered with extremely overstocked, unhealthy forests — conditions that can result in high-severity fire that decimates trees.

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Health & Safety

Portland State Researchers Work to Strengthen Region’s Defenses Against Wildfires and Wildfire Smoke

By Lacey Friedly
Portland State University
July 16, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

In the summer of 2020, wildfire smoke blanketed the city of Portland, Oregon, leading to a prolonged period of poor air quality and health concerns for residents. …Already, Oregon has seen a big jump in the number of fires from last year. At Portland State University, researchers are working to increase wildfire awareness, prevention and mitigation in the Pacific Northwest. Max Nielsen-Pincus, Cody Evers (Environmental Science and Management), Brianne Suldovsky (Communication) and Jonathan Fink (Geology) are all undertaking this effort from different angles, which fits the complexity of the issue: A variety of stakeholders and interconnected agencies work on wildfire mitigation in local, state, tribal, and national governments. One of the challenges, as associate professor Max Nielsen-Pincus put it, is “building bridges between the different agencies.” To this end, Jonathan Fink (volcanologist and professor of geology) started the Cascadia Wildfire and Urban Smoke Working Group in 2019.

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US Forest Service pilot hikes to safety after helicopter crash near central Idaho wildfire

The Associated Press
July 12, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

BOISE, Idaho — The pilot of a helicopter that was responding to a small wildfire in central Idaho before crashing in the Sawtooth National Forest survived and was able to hike to a waiting ambulance, officials said. “Our pilot was on board and survived, and an investigation is underway,” U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Angela Hawkins said Friday morning. …The Custer County Sheriff’s Office said the pilot was able to call 911 and that he was able to hike out with assistance to an ambulance that responded from the nearby town of Stanley. The Forest Service and the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the incident, Hawkins said. The helicopter incident came one day after a single-engine firefighting aircraft crashedinto a reservoir near Helena, Montana, while scooping up water to fight a different blaze, killing the pilot. That crash is also under investigation.

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Pilot employed by Idaho company killed in plane crash while fighting Montana wildfire

By Elizabeth Walsh
Idaho Statesman
July 11, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

MONTANA — A 45-year-old female pilot who was employed by an Idaho-based company died Wednesday in a plane crash while responding to a fire in Montana, according to the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office in Montana. The human-caused Horse Gulch Fire began Tuesday outside of Helena, Montana, and has burned more than 1,000 acres in the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. The Sheriff’s Office identified the pilot as Juliana Turchetti, an employee of Dauntless Air. The aerial firefighting company works with wildland firefighters and was on loan from Idaho to the U.S. Forest Service to help contain the fire, Idaho Gov. …Turchetti’s plane crashed into a mountainside and landed in Hauser Lake, according to the Sheriff’s Office. …Turchetti was the only person on the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation into what caused the crash.

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Forest Fires

Oregon is seeing an ‘aggressive start’ to its wildfire season. Many have been human-caused

By Joni Auden Land
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 19, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek addressed a group of reporters Friday to detail the state’s response to a series of wildfires this month. “Our wildfire season is off to a very aggressive start,” Kotek said. This year, the governor has already declared five emergency conflagrations in response to various fires, which allows the state to use its resources to protect life and property. Oregon has been no stranger to increasingly numerous and destructive wildfires in recent years, which scientists say is a by-product of human-caused climate change. This year, though, the fires are starting earlier than expected and spreading quickly, a worrying sign as the wildfire season nears its traditional peak in August. Most of the major wildfires this season have been human-caused. The most common cause is people burning debris around their home, and embers escaping to surrounding areas. Loose tow chains and gas-powered lawn mowers can also spark a fire.

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Oregon wildfires: Red flag warning in effect as lightning, high winds expected Sunday

By Jonathan Williams
Salem Statesman Journal
July 21, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Red flag warnings are in place in areas across the state on Sunday as fire danger remains high and winds, lightning and thunderstorms are expected to continue to roll through Oregon. The Oregon State Fire Marshal is asking Oregonians take steps to avoid sparking a fire. There were 81 active fires burning at least 504,692 acres in Oregon as of Sunday morning, according to the Oregon State Fire Marshal. “This latest round of weather is extremely concerning,” said Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple. “Our firefighters are doing everything thing they can to rise to this immense challenge, but they are taxed, and we need our fellow Oregonians’ help. Please take precautions to avoid sparking a human-caused fire, be familiar with evacuation levels, and have a go-kit ready in case you need to leave your home.” Here’s the latest updates on wildfires burning across the state.

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Crews address numerous fires across Oregon following heat wave, lightning

Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 18, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

A series of 100+ degree days across Oregon in the past week and lightning storms that swept across the region have caused fires across the state to start or grow. The Pilot Rock Fire near the town in Umatilla County is the latest to spark, quickly reaching more than 20,000 acres burned as of 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the Sheriff’s Office. While the fires have not reached major population centers so far, they have degraded air quality in some parts of the state. People living in Bend saw their air dip to very unhealthy levels in the early hours of Thursday morning. The fires in Southern and Eastern Oregon have also proven to be a dramatic turn from cooler, wetter weather in the spring that kept fire danger low. According to state fire officials, thousands of residences in Harney, Wasco, Morrow and Jackson counties have the potential to be threatened by fires currently burning. 

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Oregon governor declares state of emergency over wildfire threat

By Darryl Coote
United Press International
July 16, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Gov. Tina Kotek has declared a state of emergency over the threat caused by wildfires burning throughout Oregon. At least eight wildfires were burning in the northwestern state early Tuesday, according to state fire officials. The largest is the Cow Valley Fire, which ignited Thursday about 9 miles east of Ironside, Ore. It has consumed more than 132,500 acres with officials stating it was only 5% contained. “Firefighters are working around the clock to suppress the Cow Valley Fire,” fire officials said in a statement. Officials believe it was human caused. Kotek on Friday invoked the Emergency Conflagration Act over the Cow Valley Fire, and on Monday she declared a State of Emergency, retroactive to Saturday and that will run until Oct. 1, the end of the fire season in the fall. “Wildfires are growing at a concerning pace. Hot and windy conditions this weekend, including forecasted lightning in some areas, are threatening even larger wildfires,” she said.

Additional coverage by the Oregon Department of Forestry: Oregon receiving out of state help to fight numerous wildfires

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Large wildfires already burning in Oregon as heat wave increases fire danger

By Meagan Cuthill and Jeff Thompson
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 15, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

So far this summer, wildfires have burned tens of thousands of acres in Oregon. We’ve reached mid-July with dry conditions and excessive heat throughout the Pacific Northwest. So far this summer, wildfires have burned tens of thousands of acres in Oregon. Between the start of fire season in June and late last week, the U.S. Forest Service in Oregon and Washington has recorded 100 human-caused fires. “We’re entering a very dangerous time period in the Pacific Northwest wildfire season,” said Ed Hiatt, USFS Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations. As fire crews tackle putting out these preventable fires, extremely hot and dry conditions are significantly ramping up fire danger across the region. …The Oregon Office of Emergency Management reported as of Monday that about 5,000 people in Oregon were under some sort of evacuation order.

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Shelly Fire burning more than 15,000 acres, fire activity expected to increase

By Molly O’Brien
Klamath Falls Herald and News
July 15, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

A Siskiyou County wildfire in Klamath National Forest is ravaging more than 15,000 acres as of Monday morning, a growth of 5,000 acres since Friday. Immediate evacuation of Zone 2203-A has been ordered after the fire jumped Patterson Creek on Saturday. The Monday morning update from Klamath National Forest Service reported firefighting efforts are focused on protecting the neighboring California communities of Etna, Quartz Valley and Greenview. “Resources are in place along Shackleford Ridge, progressing southwest towards Campbell and Cliff Lakes,” the news release reported. Dry lightning storms throughout the weekend prompted crews to retreat to ensure firefighter safety.

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Horse Gulch fire swells to over 12K acres Sunday; some evacuees can return home

By Sonny Tapia
The Missoulian
July 14, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

The Horse Gulch fire northeast of Helena grew to 12,797 acres, officials reported early Sunday, and it remains 0% contained. The fire, which was human-caused and started Tuesday afternoon, is five miles south of York and two miles north of Canyon Ferry. Early Saturday, the fire was reported at 11,607 acres. The fire is now the size of about 20 square miles. …The forest service saw about 1,000 acres of growth during the red flag warning Saturday, including spot fires, according to Sara Rouse, a PIO for the U.S. Forest Service. The spot fires were kept in check by crews, Rouse added. Officials said Sunday, fire activity picked up around 2 p.m. Saturday and caused a roughly five-acre spot fire north of the main fire area.

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For a wildfire-ravaged Oregon community, recovery is a slow process

By Brian Bull
Oregon Public Broadcasting
July 13, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Hotter temperatures mean wildfire season is underway across many parts of the U.S. And while news crews tend to put away the mics and cameras once the firefighters leave, for residents in communities that have burned, the repercussions continue long after the flames are out. Take the quiet rural community of Blue River, Oregon, population of about 800. Almost four years ago, the Holiday Farm Fire nearly burned the town off the map. The path to rebuilding has been a lengthy and expensive one for residents. …“Between supply chains, county building codes, permits being issued, contractors not being available because of the number of structures that were being built all simultaneously, if you name it, we’ve probably faced it,” Melanie Stanley said, a longtime resident and fire department board member.

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Bench Lake Fire Complicated by Dead Trees and Windy Conditions

By Karen Bossick
Eye On Sun Valley
July 14, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

IDAHO — The Bench Lake fire that closed the area around Redfish Lake grew to 150 acres by Saturday evening, up from 66 the day before. “We are up at our family cabin at Fisher Creek and watched the fire grow immensely (Saturday)–very scary,” said Blaine County Commissioner Muffy Davis. Firefighters said they encountered active fire behavior with single trees and groups of trees torching. Numerous structures are threatened. The fire is zero percent contained. Local Type 3 Incident commander Chris Belliston, whose team operated from the Stanley Ranger Station, said firefighters were able to slow fire movement “considerably” on Friday thanks to water drops from scoopers. Bench Lake and a rocky outcrop are holding the fire in check on the west side. Firefighters had to contend with increased fire activity from increased winds on Saturday, however.

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100 human-caused wildfires since June

By US FOREST SERVICE Pacific Northwest Region
Herald and News
July 12, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

PORTLAND — Since June, there have been 100 human-caused wildfires on national forests and grasslands in Oregon and Washington, according to a news release from the US Forest Service. While firefighters have been largely successful in putting out these preventable fires, the extremely hot and dry conditions are significantly ramping up fire danger across the region. “We’re entering a very dangerous time period in the Pacific Northwest wildfire season,” said Ed Hiatt, Pacific Northwest Assistant Fire Director for Operations. “Combined with recent heat, we’re preparing for the potential of dry lightning and gusty winds across much of eastern Oregon.” Local responders are closely tracking these deteriorating conditions where any new wildfire will have the potential to spread rapidly and burn intensely right from the star, the release said. And as firefighters are responding to lightning-sparked fires a preventable, human-caused wildfire can limit availability of needed engines, dozer, helicopters, and other resources.

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Utah’s still-burning Silver King wildfire is one of the biggest in the nation

By Abigail Gray and Megan Banta
The Salt Lake Tribune
July 11, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

At nearly 15,000 acres, the Silver King Fire ripping through Fishlake National Forest is one of the biggest actively burning wildfires in the nation. At least two active wildfires in the West are bigger: The Lake Fire (2024) northeast of Los Olivos, California, was burning about 34,015 acres as of Thursday, and the Wilder Fire in Humboldt County, Nevada, had grown to 16,830 acres. Both started within days of the Silver King Fire, but they are at least partially contained — the Lake Fire is 16% contained, and the Wilder Fire is 40% contained. Another wildfire near Ruidoso, New Mexico, has burned more than 17,500 acres since June 17 but is nearly completely contained.

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Zero percent contained: Silver King and Deer Spring wildfires continue to rage out of control in southern Utah

By Mark Eddington
The Salt Lake Tribune
July 10, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

St. George — Scores of firefighters in southern Utah are still struggling to rein in two major fires, braving intense heat, high winds and rugged terrain to bring the blazes under control. About 350 firefighters on the ground and a small fleet of tankers and helicopters in the air continued their battle to extinguish the Silver King Fire, which was sparked by lightning on July 5 and grew from 10,800 acres Monday to 11,290 acres on Tuesday and is zero percent contained. The fire’s spread prompted the Fishlake National Forest officials to close a vast area to the public. The closure, which will remain in effect through Aug. 30 unless rescinded, extends from Interstate 70 and Castle Rock Campground south to Tenmile Creek, and from Mount Baldy and the Fish Creek drainage area east to just short of Marysvale.

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Forest History & Archives

Exploring History: Cedarhome’s journey from timber town to neighborhood

By Mary Jennings
Stanwood Camano News
July 16, 2024
Category: Forest History & Archives
Region: United States, US West

Stanwood, Washington — Beginning in the 1870s, just northeast of Stanwood, a settlement that would become known as Cedarhome was the landing place of Scandinavians and other immigrants looking to put down roots. A couple of decades earlier, the first Euro-Americans had begun arriving on Camano Island and the banks of the Stillaguamish River attracted by the economic opportunity of a burgeoning timber industry and the vast agricultural potential of the land. …The 1848 California Gold Rush created a demand for lumber to build flumes, causing the timber industry to boom in the Puget Sound region, including the Stillaguamish Valley and Camano Island. The surrounding forests were opened to logging and development in part by the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott, which resulted in many embattled Indigenous people ceding their land and moving to reservations. Around the time of the treaty, a logging camp was established at Utsalady Bay on the north end of Camano Island.

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