Region Archives: US West

Pedro Rios

Former Klamath National Forest seasonal firefighter Pedro Rios ended up on the U.S. Forest Service’s “do not rehire” list after a 2020 post on social media about what he perceived as the agency’s lax COVID-19 rules during the pandemic, which could have endangered the health of his young son. Rios sued the agency, alleging that refusing to rehire him for the 2021 fire season was the result of “retaliation for whistleblowing activity.” …the Forest Service reached a settlement to award Rios $115,000 in back pay, after an administrative judge… found that Rios had “exhausted his administrative remedies and made non-frivolous allegations entitling him to a hearing.” …The judge also ruled that the agency must remove Rios from any “do not rehire” lists. …The judge determined that Rios’ post on Facebook “broke no rules and raised legitimate concerns through the only forum he felt he had available to him to do so.”

New UC Riverside research shows fungi and bacteria able to survive redwood tanoak forest megafires are microbial “cousins” that often increase in abundance after feeling the flames. Fires of unprecedented size and intensity, called megafires, are becoming increasingly common. In the West, climate change is causing rising temperatures and earlier snow melt, extending the dry season when forests are most vulnerable to burning. Though some ecosystems are adapted for less intense fires, little is known about how plants or their associated soil microbiomes respond to megafires, particularly in California’s charismatic redwood tanoak forests. “It’s not likely plants can recover from megafires without beneficial fungi that supply roots with nutrients, or bacteria that transform extra carbon and nitrogen in post-fire soil,” said Sydney Glassman, UCR mycologist and lead study author. “Understanding the microbes is key to any restoration effort.”

The San Juan National Forest will receive more than $3 million for forest health projects from the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The funding enables land managers to expand existing projects for wildfire mitigation, forest health, critical watersheds, wildlife, noxious weed treatment and community infrastructure. How the funding will be divided among the ranger districts will be determined later. The funding will complement the Forest Service budget and “allows for a lot more work to get done on the ground,” said Dolores District Ranger Derek Padilla. “It will benefit a variety of forest health programs.” The Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative, which identified the San Juan National Forest as a priority for additional funding for forest projects, is in its third year.

OLYMPIA, Washington — Earth Day is every day for Washington’s working forests. A recent report from the leading body of world experts on climate change confirms that the contributions of Washington state’s actively managed forests are critical to mitigating climate change and addressing global carbon emissions. In its Sixth Assessment Report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that the use of wood products contributes to carbon mitigation in two distinctly different ways: carbon storage in wood products and material substitution. Wood products and the managed working forests that supply the wood are climate-friendly building materials. That’s because when the sustainably harvested wood is used for the manufacture of wood products, the carbon remains stored throughout the wood product’s lifespan. Wood that is substituted for other building materials that are not renewable, or require more energy to produce, helps communities achieve sustainability goals, including climate neutrality by 2050.  

Anne Nolin

TWIN BRIDGES, Calif.  — In a California forest torched by wildfire last summer, researcher Anne Nolin examines a handful of the season’s remaining snow, now darkened by black specks from the burned trees above. Spring heat waves had already melted much of the year’s limited snowfall across California and parts of the West when Nolin visited in early April. But she and her colleague are studying another factor that might’ve made the snow vanish faster in the central Sierra Nevada — the scorched trees, which no longer provide much shade and are shedding flecks of carbon. The darkened snow is “primed to absorb all that sunlight” and melt faster, said Nolin, who researches snow at the University of Nevada, Reno. As climate change fuels the spread of wildfires across the West, researchers want to know how the dual effect might disrupt water supplies. …It’s not yet clear exactly how the charred trees might disrupt their future water supply. 

MISSOULA – A destructive beetle has caused billions of dollars in damage to our nation’s forests. …when the little beetles spread to epidemic levels the results are devastating. There are 600 species of bark beetles in the United States but as climate change prevails certain species are expanding their range and causing an epidemic on trees. One of these species — the mountain pine beetle — has killed nearly 100,000 square miles of trees across western North America over the past 20 years, affecting 18 million hectares of pine forest. …a single mating pair can reproduce more than 12 million beetles a year. …the U.S Forest Service says there still isn’t a clear understanding of how bark beetle outbreaks affect wildfires. Increased CO2 levels are the catalyst that caused these invasions, but the beetles are also contributing to the carbon dioxide released into our atmosphere. …Restoration efforts emphasizing diversity are considered viable management strategies in this battle.

As leaders from Southeast Alaska with the Sustainable Southeast Partnership (SSP), we represent entities that have not always seen eye to eye — tribes, Regional and Village Corporations, economic development, fishing, and conservation groups. We work together to find opportunities that put a conflict-ridden past behind us by focusing on the future of Southeast Alaska guided by Indigenous values and the vision and terms of the people that live here.  Last week, the national and state leadership of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) visited Southeast Alaska and met with all of us to share their new Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy (SASS) that is working to transition our economy from timber extraction to sustainable, community-led economic development. We applaud USDA on this innovative approach for supporting community resilience and seek to join them wholeheartedly in its development and implementation.

How should Oregon determine which parts of the state face the highest wildfire risk? A new set of rules will guide a statewide process of identifying high fire risk areas and mapping the level of risk on every single tax lot. The Oregon Department of Forestry is holding three virtual public meetings this week… before they’re used to build a map intended to classify the wildfire risk on properties across the state. The resulting wildfire risk map could have major consequences for property owners and developers because the state is also crafting new building codes and zoning requirements… to clear flammable trees and brush around homes, as well as mandates that new homes use fire-resistant “home hardening” measures and less-flammable materials.

THE HALL OF MOSSES, A looped hiking trail in Washington State’s Hoh Rain Forest, is known for a kind of otherworldly lusciousness. Vibrant ferns line misty paths. The roots of centuries-old trees tangle around each other, forming miniature mazes. Most spectacularly, soft moss coats the towering Sitka spruce trees, drooping in fringed curtains from the branches. It’s awe-inspiring, but there’s more wonder in store. “When you look up, you see that beautiful green drapery,” says Korena Mafune, a soil ecologist based at the University of Washington in Seattle, “but the real secrets are what it holds underneath it.” …From unusual mineral concentrations to microscopic extremophiles, canopy soil contains a wealth of potential research subjects. Mafune is particularly interested in mycorrhizal fungi, which help plants take in nutrients from the soil. “They’re very cryptic, they’re very mysterious,” she says. …The sheer volume of species living in the canopy is tantalizing for researchers. 

COLORADO — Forest managers are working together to address continued outbreaks of insects and disease in Colorado’s forests, including the spruce beetle, which remains the most damaging forest pest in the state for the ninth consecutive year, based on a 2020 aerial detection survey led by the USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, and Colorado State Forest Service. Every year, the agencies aerially monitor forest health conditions on millions of forested acres across the state. Today, the agencies released the results of last year’s aerial survey and survey map. The spruce beetle affects high-elevation Engelmann spruce. …The Douglas-fir beetle continued to invade Douglas-fir trees in central and southern Colorado. …The aerial survey also revealed that western spruce budworm continues to be Colorado’s most damaging and widespread forest defoliator.

The California Department of Forest and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is pleased to announce the availability of the Forest Management Handbook for Small-Parcel Landowners in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascade Range. Family-owned forest lands make up about 20 percent, which is approximately 7 million acres, of California’s forests. Most of these acres are owned and managed as small parcels (10 to 100 acres) by nonindustrial private landowners. This handbook was created to provide concise and thorough information to help these landowners develop a sound forest management strategy for their property. …It features information gathered from a large body of current scientific literature that provides relevant technical information for forest landowners. It helps landowners assess the condition of their property to make informed decisions rooted in the best available science. Digital copies of the handbook are available now and can be accessed by visiting this website. 

In February, the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) shared their draft of the Western Oregon State Forests Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). It outlines a forest management plan to fight against the potential harm of endangered species living in the Oregon forests and a variety of other environmental issues; the proposed plan will limit timber harvest dramatically. The HCP draft is a 70-year proposed plan that will give protection to 17 endangered species protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), including the Northern spotted owl, the coastal marten, the red tree voles, and the Oregon coast coho. It also projects improvement upon forest conservation strategies, generating $1 million per year in funding for habitat conservation efforts for endangered species. …The State of Oregon is legally obligated to support the environmental, economic, and social values of the forest greatest permanent value (GPV) meaning healthy, productive, and sustainable forest ecosystems that last.

Mary Jean Ryan

Peter Goldmark

The Commissioner of Public Lands recently announced a plan to set aside certain older forests on state land for the purpose of carbon storage. …the action is an important first step that acknowledges the pivotal climate protection function that intact older forests can provide. While creating a small carbon reserve … is crucial to begin climate mitigation in state forests, this action is in stark contrast to DNR’s timber harvest plans. …Next year the DNR has plans to log more than 5,000 acres of older forests with similar characteristics to those in the carbon reserve. …this choice …undermines the very goals and values expressed by Commissioner Hilary Franz. …The DNR and the Board of Natural Resources should take swift action to abandon the plan to clear-cut these valuable older forests. Our state needs to adopt a new approach to managing its forests — especially its older, naturally regenerated Western Washington legacy forests.

Randy Moore

LYONS, Colo. — The U.S. Forest Services announced on Monday it will spend $131 million as part of a 10-year plan to reduce wildfire risk on 208,000 across eight western states.  In a press release Monday, the Forest Service — an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture — said around 80% of the wildfire risk out west comes from 10% of the land referred to as “firesheds,” or areas where wildfire is likely to pose the greatest risk to to communities and natural resources.  …“The first-year investments are a part of a 10-year strategy to reduce the exposure of communities and infrastructure to the risk of catastrophic wildfire,” Forest Service Chief Randy Moore said, according to the press release. “With each successive year we will plan and implement more, continuing to reduce the risks associated with extreme wildfire for communities in these vulnerable areas.”

Ten years of the Four Forests Restoration (4FRI) Phase I ends across Northern Arizona in May. After a decade of missed targets, frustration increased among local forest thinning contractors when 4FRI’s two-year Phase II Request for Proposals process was canceled last fall.  … Both mechanical thinning and prescribed burning will be focused on approximately 135,000 “high priority” acres around communities most at risk. …However, remodeling 4FRI’s Phase II structure has made life difficult for forest contractors. Bob Lee and Sons, based in Prescott, has been thinning forests on public and private land across Northern and Central Arizona since the early 1980s. “The way Phase II is being administered has created a hardship,” said owner Dale Lee. “The acreage being offered up on timber sales currently is not enough wood for guys like me to go after. And so now we’re getting in bidding wars for the sales that do come up,” Lee said. 

Much of California is already in wildfire season after an extremely dry winter left vegetation brittle and water levels low. With winds and hot temperatures in the forecast starting this week, and no rain or snow expected in the near future, conditions aren’t likely to improve, fire experts said. Statewide, firefighters battled 925 fires from Jan. 1 to April 1 — about the same as those dates in 2021, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. However, the acreage destroyed this year is almost double what burned during those months last year. “Most of the state is already in moderate to extreme drought,” said Cheryl Buliavac, fire prevention specialist at Cal Fire’s Shasta-Trinity Unit. This year’s fire season could be worse than last year’s. …What’s making 2022 worse is having two very dry years back-to-back, well below normal, Karl Swanberg at the weather service in Sacramento said. 

As California continuous to experience deadly and devastating wildfires each year across its landscape, the Indigenous practice of cultural burning and “good fire” is earning renewed attention. The University of California published this week an excellent feature by UCOP writer Robyn Schelenz and videographer Jessica Wheelock called “How the Indigenous Practice of ‘Good Fire’ Can Help Our Forests Thrive.” The feature includes UC Davis professor of Native American Studies Beth Rose Middleton Manning and the Honorable Ron W. Goode, Tribal Chairman of the North Fork Mono Tribe. They have worked together to teach UC Davis students and others about traditional Indigenous burns—an experience highlighted by our own 2020 story, “Rethinking Wildfire.”

New Mexico Highlands University has received $1 million from the federal government to support the New Mexico Reforestation Center’s seed bank and seed collection efforts. The New Mexico Reforestation Center is a partnership between New Mexico Highlands University, New Mexico State University, University of New Mexico, and the New Mexico Energy, Minerals, and Natural Resources Department’s Forestry Division to meet New Mexico’s current and future reforestation needs. …“It’s one-of-a-kind in the country, and part of the plan behind it is to integrate the forest restoration research with forestry education, and then implement all of that into applied research to achieve desired environmental objectives,” said Joshua Sloan, Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs for Forestry and the Reforestation Center at Highlands University. “At the same time, it’s meeting research and academic objectives.” Sloan said the primary species of research interest so far include ponderosa pine, quaking aspen, and Douglas-fir.  

Colleen Roberts

…Jackson County government has worked to increase proactive wildfire prevention efforts and coordination with partners and landowners. …We depend on our partners at the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to do their part to reduce wildfire risks on lands they manage. …Unfortunately… it can take years for agencies to develop and implement forest management projects. …Jackson County government keeps a close eye on developments in Washington, D.C., and …the board of commissioners has expressed serious concerns with S. 192, a bill called the “River Democracy Act” that would add layers of restrictions, increase costs and bureaucracy for our local agencies and make wildfire prevention more difficult. S. 192 would designate dozens of areas in the county as “wild and scenic river” corridors where thinning and fuels reduction would become more prohibitive. …S. 192 would undermine the management of O&C lands that are required by law … to be actively managed for sustained yield timber harvests.

Two recent studies show declines in Portland’s tree canopy between 2015 and 2020. Although the losses are relatively small, they come after significant increases over the previous 15 years.  And there could be greater losses in coming years because of new residential developments policies, according to one of the researchers.  One study was conducted by Portland Parks & Recreation and presented to the Portland City Council on March 16. It found the tree canopy increased in all parts of town by 3,112 acres between 2000 and 2015. But, the study said, the canopy declined by 823 acres over the next five years. That is a net loss the size of Mount Tabor every year, the study said.  The parks study said the tree canopy fell in every zoning class of the city after 2015. …The study did not offer any reasons for the reversal, however.