Region Archives: US West

A forest modeling study has revealed important insights into how harvest rotations can be optimized for maximum carbon sequestration, a critical factor in the fight against climate change. The study was led by Catherine Carlisle as a graduate student, alongside Temesgen Hailemariam and Stephen Fitzgerald from the OSU College of Forestry. The researchers determined that a site’s productivity, reflecting the rate of tree growth and biomass accumulation, is a key determinant in establishing the ideal time period between timber harvests for maximizing above-ground carbon storage. …The researchers utilized the Forest Vegetation Simulator, a software suite, to predict vegetation changes in response to different management activities or natural disturbances. …The study revealed that for highly productive stands, 60-year rotations with a low-intensity thinning at 40 years maximized carbon storage.

Anusha Mathur’s Nov. 1 Flathead Beacon essay [The Yaak Valley is Ground Zero for Montana’s Environmental Future] was a jarring reminder that the timber wars of the 1980s are still with us. The interchangeable anti-forestry narratives haven’t changed much since 1985: the old growth is almost gone, save charismatic megafauna, save endangered species, stop clearcutting, loggers are logging without laws and, more recently, climate change is real, climate deniers are wrong, the science is settled and where is the climate justice? The Yaak Valley is one of many ground zeros is the long running and exceptionally well-funded political war to end all forms of science-based management on public forestlands in the United States. Who provided the airplane that flew Mathur over the Kootenai National Forest? …There is an entirely different narrative that could have gone with the Yaak Valley flight. Had I been in charge … those on board could have also spent some time on the ground.

OREGON — Deep inside a forest in Oregon’s Willamette Valley stands a dead “Tree of Life.” Its foliage, normally soft and green, is tough and brown or missing altogether. Nonetheless, the tree’s reddish bark identify it as the iconic western red cedar. Christine Buhl, a forest health specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry,  extracts sample of the tree’s inner growth rings. The rings become thinner over time, indicating the tree’s growth slowed before the tree finally died, a sign that this red cedar, like thousands of others in Oregon and Washington, died from drought. …Last year, Buhl and colleagues reported that red cedars were dying throughout the tree’s growing range not because of a fungus or insect attack, but due to the region’s “climate change-induced drought.” Red cedars aren’t alone… at least 15 native Pacific Northwest tree species have experienced growth declines and die-offs.

Commissioner Franz announced the initiative … at the West Pierce Fire and Rescue’s Station 20 in Lakewood. “A Smokey Bear license plate would let people show their support for the firefighters who put their lives on the line every season to keep us, our property and our lands safe from fire,” Commissioner Franz said. “Putting his image on vehicles across Washington will increase wildfire awareness by reminding everyone of his signature catchphrase: Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.” All revenue raised from the proposed license plates would go to wildfire prevention. DNR will need to reach a goal of 3,500 signatures for the Smokey Bear license plate to be considered by the Department of Licensing. …Under this bill, the public could start purchasing license plates in October 2024 for any vehicle required to have a license plate.

Since 2020 millions of acres have burned across California. The fires have killed forests and people. But fire also brings life: California’s blazes have renourished soil, supercharged grass growth and set the stage for a top predator to reclaim part of its historical stomping grounds. After the 2021 Windy Fire, a pack of wild wolves settled in the burned-out area north of Los Angeles. It’s the first time in about 150 years that gray wolves have roamed this part of the Golden State. “If you walk through a burned landscape with lots of dead trees, you’ll be surprised by the vibrant life which springs from the ashes,” says Andrew Stillman, an ecologist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Wolves once ranged across all of North America, from Arctic Alaska to Mexico—and even east to present-day Manhattan. But as settlers swarmed the continent, development, hunting and the fight for space dramatically reduced wolves’ numbers. 

Early this summer, while many Americans were gathering for Fourth of July barbecues, the Tallac Hotshots were in triple-digit heat in Arizona, fighting a wildfire for 14 straight days and sleeping on the ground next to their trucks. The federal firefighting crew had only three days off before darting to a fire raging in a thickly wooded evergreen forest in Oregon. …A standard shift on a fire is 16 hours. Crew members often sleep in the open air. After weeks without bathing, team members say it can take two or three showers to scrub all the grime and soot that stay caked on like a chimney sweeper out of Dickens. “It’s really physical but it’s extremely  mental, too,” said Kyle Betty, the superintendent of the Tallac Hotshots, which are based near Lake Tahoe in California and named after Mount Tallac. …Nineteen men and two women make up the Tallac Hotshots, hailing from across the country. [NYTimes requires a subscription to access the full story – this story has amazing photography!]

Redwoods store more aboveground carbon than any forest on Earth. Now, work is beginning to restore these forests that once stretched across coastal Northern California. Only 5% of California’s redwood forests have never been logged. An initiative to restore these forests is gaining momentum, aided by research showing that redwoods store more aboveground carbon than any forest on Earth. …Restoration has drawn recent attention and picked up momentum with the launch of Redwoods Rising, an ambitious recovery program. Operations began in 2020 and have been gaining urgency, as the impacts of climate change have become a part of everyday life in the region, and a growing body of science has shown that old-growth redwoods store more aboveground carbon than any forest on Earth, up 2,600 tonnes per hectare (0.01 sq km). …Unfortunately, these laudable recovery efforts are currently confined, like the old growth, to tiny islands scattered within a battered forest landscape.

Western gray squirrels will now be listed as endangered in Washington. The state Fish and Wildlife Commission’s decision Friday comes after a periodic status review of the large tree squirrels. It’s hard to know exactly how many Western gray squirrels are in Washington — but the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife said it is safe to say there aren’t many, somewhere between 400 and 1,400, in total. …Most of the squirrels are isolated in Okanogan and Klickitat counties and in the South Sound area. …The squirrels were listed as threatened in the state in 1993. Recovery efforts since then haven’t worked out as hoped. The squirrels have lost about 20% of their important habitat to things like development and wildfires. …Cotten said where there is good habitat, the squirrels are doing well — like a reintroduced population at Joint Base Lewis-McCord, south of Tacoma.

EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Youth Corps will invest $4 million from the USDA Forest Service to engage youth and young adults in urban forestry stewardship and education activities to help create a more climate-resilient city. Urban forests play a vital role in reducing air pollution and greenhouse gases and also lower energy consumption by providing shade and reducing heat island effects. Additional benefits include improving water quality and reducing stormwater runoff. Jeff Parker, executive director of the Northwest Youth Corps, said that the program will provide young people with skills valuable in both classroom and workforce settings. …Spring and autumn crews for young people between ages 19 and 24 will receive post-program assistance in connecting with green careers, while the summer crews for youths between 15 and 18 years of age will be eligible to receive high school credit.

…Christine Buhl, a forest health specialist for the Oregon Department of Forestry, plunges a tool called an increment borer into the dead tree’s trunk. Twisting the handle of the corkscrew-like borer, Buhl extracts a long, thin sample of the tree’s inner growth rings.  The rings become thinner over time, indicating the tree’s growth slowed before the tree finally  died, a sign that this red cedar, like thousands of others in Oregon and Washington, died from drought.  “That’s why it’s the canary,” says Buhl. “Any tree that’s less drought tolerant is going to be the canary in the coal mine. They’re going to start bailing (out).” …In recent years, at least 15 native Pacific Northwest tree species have experienced growth declines and die-offs, 10 of which have been linked to drought and warming temperatures, according to recent studies and reports.

Jayathi Murthy

Oregon State University is stepping back from a years-long effort to turn the Elliott State Forest into the country’s largest research forest, but state leaders and longtime advocates say they aren’t concerned about the long-term designs to rehabilitate the forest. The announcement marks another twist in a lengthy story involving the 82,000-acre Elliott State Forest. For more than four years, OSU has worked with the Oregon Department of State Lands on a proposal that would make the Elliott a “world-renowned” research forest to help better understand how climate change is impacting forests, contributing to sustainable forest products while also allowing public access and timber harvesting. But OSU President Jayathi Murthy announced she would not make a recommendation to OSU’s Board of Trustees to authorize the school’s management of the research forest, in what appeared to stall the future of the forest that was set to be created at the start of next year.

On Tuesday, the federal government released an update to its most important report on how climate change is affecting the U.S. The congressionally-ordered Fifth National Climate Assessment is the effort of 13 federal agencies and a host of university, tribal and nonprofit experts to help local leaders make decisions in preparation for and in response to climate change. Its release comes toward the end of what scientists say is likely to be the warmest year on record. …since the last climate assessment was released five years ago, communities across the country have made significant strides in responding, and adapting, to climate change. That includes deploying renewable energy, implementing urban heat plans and trying innovative agricultural practices. …The report also highlighted the significant growth of homes in the outskirts of Northwest cities over the past three decades. This development, away from city centers and into the wildland-urban interface, can increase exposure to wildfires…

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA – The Wilderness Society Wednesday announced its support for a bill sponsored by Sen. Lisa Murkowski that is known as the Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition and Compensation Act (S. 1889). The legislation would allow five communities omitted from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to receive settlement land and form corporations, as hundreds of other Indigenous communities across the state did when ANCSA was passed in 1971. …”While The Wilderness Society’s defense of the Tongass continues, we must correct the injustices faced by these five Indigenous communities in Southeast Alaska. We acknowledge that the Tongass is the ancestral homelands of the Indigenous Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian peoples. We acknowledge and respect that five Alaska Native communities were wrongfully excluded from ANCSA, and we must, at a minimum, support efforts to correct this wrongdoing. As a result, we support S. 1889,” said Karlin Itchoak, The Wilderness Society’s senior regional director for Alaska. 

Danny Cluck

CALIFORNIA – Danny Cluck is a U.S. Forest Service scientist working in the Modoc, Lassen, Plumas and Tahoe national forests, and the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit. The Lookout’s Zeke Lunder first got to know Danny in the mid-’90s, when they were both working for the Forest Service. Zeke was on a tree-marking crew and Danny was a biologist. Since then, Danny has become one of the west coast’s experts on forest insects and forest health in general. He worked as a resource advisor during the 2021 Dixie Fire and was assigned to help manage the cleanup and restoration of lands damaged by firefighting activities. This week, we’re sharing an interview with Danny recorded in the Lassen National Forest shortly after the Dixie Fire. Watch the interview, here, or read it, below.

One of California’s largest utilities is responsible for a blaze that killed two people attempting to flee a fast-moving 2022 fire near Hemet, southeast of Los Angeles, according to a report from the state’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection obtained by The Washington Post. Southern California Edison has previously denied any allegations of its involvement in September 5 Fairview Fire that burned more than 28,000 acres and destroyed dozens of structures. The report, which has not yet been made public, determined that because of a sag in one of SCE’s electrical lines in Hemet, the wire came into contact with a communication line below it and caused a flurry of sparks, igniting flammable vegetation nearby. …“It was determined the SCE energized overhead electrical line contacted a Frontier communication line that was suspended underneath the electrical lines,” the report states. “This caused a shower of sparks, which caused the fire.” [The Washington Post is a subscription publication]

As officials at state and federal agencies attempt to wrap up the landmark Western Oregon State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan, stakeholders are issuing new demands and asking for final tweaks that could delay the already overdue plan into 2025. Conservationists say at stake are the fate of 17 threatened species and thousands of acres that make up some of Oregon’s last old-growth forests. For timber companies and two counties… the stakes are financial losses that could cost logging and milling jobs, as well money for police and schools. For the state, the risk of lawsuits under the federal Endangered Species Act remains as long as the plan is not finalized by the Oregon Board of Forestry and approved by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The latest demands for changes to the plan come from 10 conservation groups.

The Southeast Alaska community of Whale Pass opposes a 292-acre sale of old-growth forest and instead prefers the economic benefits of tourism and carbon credits. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources commissioner dismisses the idea of potentially gaining millions (estimates are $1.3 million to $6.8 million) in carbon offsets. Despite the fact that logging will almost certainly make less money and is less than 1% of the economy of Southeast while tourism provides 27%, the state of Alaska says it’s in the state’s best interest to pursue an old-growth timber sale right next to Whale Pass. …Even though the state of Alaska is now pursuing the same revenue option as a result of recently passed legislation, the state says the Whale Pass sale wouldn’t work as a carbon offset because it’s too small, that it needs to be a minimum of 5,000 acres. 

There is no longer any question of how to prevent high-intensity, often catastrophic, wildfires that have become increasingly frequent across the Western U.S., according to a new study by researchers at Stanford and Columbia universities. The analysis, published Nov. 10 in Science Advances, reveals that low-intensity burning, such as controlled or prescribed fires, managed wildfires, and tribal cultural burning, can dramatically reduce the risk of devastating fires for years at a time. The findings – some of the first to rigorously quantify the value of low-intensity fire – come while Congress is reassessing the U.S. Forest Service’s wildfire strategy as part of reauthorizing the Farm Bill. …Co-author Michael Wara, director of the Climate and Energy Policy Program at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment… “Beneficial fire is not without its own risks – but what our study shows is just how large and long-lasting the benefits are of this crucial risk reduction strategy.”

Wildfires and drought have led to $11.2 billion in damages to privately held timberland in California, Oregon and Washington over the past two decades, a new Oregon State University study found. That represents about a 10% reduction in the value of private timberland in the three states. Based on recent climate change attribution studies by other scientists, the authors of the study attribute about half of the economic damages to climate change. While past research has estimated impacts of climate change on the value of forests in the future, researchers were interested in how climate change has already affected the value of forests in the new study. …The study, published in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, is being released shortly after the White House announced plans to develop a strategy to estimate the impacts of climate change.

On an October day in Plumas National Forest, Alex Lemnah traverses the canopy of an incense cedar nearly 100 feet off the ground. His job is to climb California conifers to collect their cones. Inside these spiny reproductive globes are the real prize: seeds. But things can turn dicey when the wind picks up. …These climbers are the linchpin in California’s new plan to save scorched forests from disappearing, threatened by mega-fires made worse by poor forest management and climate change. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Forestry and Fire Task Force found that 1.5 million acres of California forest were scorched by 70% high-severity fire during the 2019-2021 fire seasons. Fire devastation on those acres is so intense that trees won’t naturally grow back, and to prevent them from becoming shrubby chaparral, they need to be replanted. …Foresters say bringing back California’s “reforestation pipeline” — the network of seed banks, nurseries and planting operations — is desperately needed.

PAYSON — On June 27, 1990, two stories dominated the headlines in Arizona. One documented the hottest day on record in Phoenix, where the temperature peaked at 122 degrees. The second story reported that six firemen had been killed in the Dude Fire. Now, 33 years later, forest managers are concerned history may repeat itself. Arizona experienced one of its hottest and driest summers, increasing wildfire danger across the state, and the Dude Fire burn scar has become an extremely high risk for another destructive fire. An overabundance of fuels was one of the reasons why the Dude Fire was so destructive, and after decades of excessive fire suppression in forests, low-lying vegetation has taken over again. To prevent future catastrophic fires, the U.S. Forest Service, Salt River Project and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management are thinning forest areas in northern and central Arizona.

A proposed timber project on about 5,400 acres in the Swan Valley is under review by the Flathead National Forest. The Rumbling Owl Fuels Reduction Project would include timber harvest and prescribed fire with the intent of reducing wildfires in the so-called wildland-urban interface. The project is southeast of Condon between Montana 83 and the Bob Marshall Wilderness. According to the scoping notice, the area includes many private and Forest Service structures, and is important to the outdoor tourism economy. A wildfire in the area would have “devastating consequences,” according to the notice. The proposed harvest and prescribed fire would ultimately help protect those assets, the notice states. Work would include 4,441 acres of commercial tree harvest and 946 acres of pre-commercial thinning. 

…Giant sequoias are, by volume, the largest trees in the world, indigenous only to California. Reaching heights of 300 feet, they occur in 80 groves or grove complexes along the western flank of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Central California. All but eight of those groves occur in a narrow, 60-mile-long band at elevations between 4,000 and 8,000 feet. … For a long time, sequoias were thought to be indestructible. With their thick, flame-resistant bark and elevated crowns they are well adapted to wildfire. When a fire comes through, they aren’t usually killed. In fact, they thrive as their competitors for light, water, and nutrients are removed, and the fire’s heat opens the sequoia’s cones, facilitating the release of seeds for reproduction. Insects don’t kill them, nor does disease. That is why many of these trees live for thousands of years: The oldest sequoia is more than 3,200 years old. In North America, only bristlecone pines grow longer.

Three environmental groups filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday to stop a 4,600-acre forest and logging project northeast of Eugene.  Willamette Riverkeeper, Cascadia Wildlands and Oregon Wild filed the lawsuit against the Bureau of Land Management for the agency’s authorization of the Big League Project in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds.  The groups contend the BLM violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to take a “hard look” at impacts on endangered salmon, recently burned forest, spotted owl habitat and carbon storage, among other factors.  “Specifically, this project plans to clearcut the last and best older forest stands in the Calapooia and Mohawk River Watersheds,” the groups said in a news release.  …A central part of the lawsuit focuses on “BLM’s failure to fully analyze the effects of logging and road construction activities on threatened Upper Willamette River spring Chinook salmon.”

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Analyses of U.S. national forests led by Oregon State University scientists shows that increased protections for two Alaskan forests is a key to meeting climate and biodiversity goals. In a paper published in AGU Advances, OSU College of Forestry researchers make the case that greater conservation efforts in the Tongass and Chugach national forests in southern Alaska are crucial because of their landscape integrity, high carbon stocks and wildlife habitat extent. “More thoroughly safeguarding those forests from industrial development would contribute significantly to climate change mitigation and species adaptation in the face of the severe ecological disruption that’s expected to occur over the next few decades as the climate rapidly gets warmer,” said Oregon State’s Bev Law, who co-led the study.

Chad Stewart, supervisor of the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests, has described the recently released revised land management plan for the forests as one that strikes “the best balance between conservation, which entails active forestry management and sustainable uses, and preservation, which restricts human impact and supports natural processes.”  …”It fell short in a lot of areas,” he said. By contrast, Mesa County commissioners in a letter sent this week to Stewart called the plan both “well-balanced” and “forward-thinking.” …The current plan dates back 40 years, and the Forest Service has been working for years on updating it. …The plan “appears to have increased timber production as a goal, even though trees are much more valuable standing, as they provide for biological diversity and carbon storage,” a number of conservation and citizen groups told the Forest Service in an objection letter.

DELTA, Colo.— Conservation groups filed objections this week to the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed final management plan for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests in western Colorado. The plan would allow commercial logging on more than 772,000 acres of public lands, including mature and old-growth trees — a 66% increase from the current forest plan. “A sizeable area of our beloved forests could be sacrificed to commercial logging at the expense of our already dwindling wilderness areas, wildlife habitat and recreation,” said Chad Reich with High Country Conservation Advocates. …Under the proposed plan mature and old-growth forests, which store massive amounts of carbon, could be commercially logged. Forest managers would not be required to identify and protect old-growth and mature trees. Steep slopes across the forests, including Upper Taylor Canyon and Slate River Valley, could also be logged despite the high risk of severe erosion and threats to water quality.