Region Archives: US West

Mike Dunleavy

Our great state is also a land of great contradictions. …We have the largest reserves of natural gas and renewable energy potential in the United States, yet we have the second-highest energy costs in the nation. …The Tongass National Forest is the largest in the nation, yet our timber industry is smaller than Rhode Island’s. …Although we have more land than any other state, less than 1 percent is in private hands and our state government. …The greatest contradiction of all is that we remain at the mercy of others and forces beyond our control even though we have everything we need to feed ourselves, to power our economy, and to be a reliable source of resources for our fellow Americans and our allies. …Recognizing the urgency of becoming self-sufficient while doing nothing about it is a contradiction we can no longer afford.

Gavin Newsome

SACRAMENTO – The Governor’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force issued a Strategic Plan for Expanding the Use of Beneficial Fire to expand the use of prescribed fire and cultural burning to build forest and community resilience statewide – efforts critical to forest management and wildfire mitigation. By expanding the use of beneficial fire, the state can utilize smart burning tactics on brush and other fuels to help both prevent the start of fires and mitigate the spread of wildfires. Based on a collaborative effort of the state’s leading fire experts and managers, the Strategic Plan sets a target of expanding beneficial fire to 400,000 acres annually by 2025, a shared goal between state, federal, tribal, and local entities – part of an overall goal to treat 1 million acres annually in California by 2025. 

Rachel Hamby

John Todd

Last year, Montana’s fire season … burned nearly 1 million acres in Montana, triggering evacuations for thousands and destroying hundreds of homes and structures. It’s little wonder that a bipartisan survey recently conducted by Colorado College found that 92% of Montana voters are concerned about more frequent and severe wildfires. …Unfortunately, some decision-makers exploit this growing concern over wildfires to advance …accelerating large-scale logging, or exempting logging projects from laws that protect community drinking water and wildlife habitat. …the idea that we can achieve shorter and less intense fire seasons by simply logging more is a political concept, not a scientific one. …we must shift toward…science-based strategies that include the safe and effective use of prescribed fire. …Shifting our investment towards prevention by increasing resources and funding for prescribed burns makes good long-term fiscal sense.

ALASKA — The Roadless Rule is supposed to protect wild places. What went wrong in the Tongass National Forest? …The Tongass has been the heart of the logging industry in Alaska for decades, starting in the 1950s with the arrival of pulp mills. It was at its zenith in 1990, employing crews in the thousands to clear-cut old growth trees. But attitudes were shifting. …In 2001, in the waning days of his administration, President Bill Clinton issued the Roadless Area Conservation Policy, also known as the Roadless Rule. …Governors from both parties have fought the Roadless Rule in federal court. Now, Naukati Bay and the other communities nestled within Tongass are on the front lines of the debate over clear-cutting old-growth trees in the 21st century.

MONTANA — There is no silver bullet solution when it comes to adapting communities to wildfire in Montana and across the West, experts told state lawmakers. The Environmental Quality Council held a wildfire panel last week to hear about trends, mitigation and potential policy implications. The meeting comes as much of Montana faces widespread drought and pushes by state and federal officials to increase the pace and scale of forest management. …When it comes to mitigation, Mark Finney, a U.S. Forest Service researcher, told the council that logging or thinning alone has not been shown to prevent large fires burning under extreme conditions. ..“If we stop (at logging or thinning), if we do not follow with prescribed burning, we don’t have a fuel treatment,” he said. “All of the evidence … over the past 80 years, all of the research has shown fire is the essential fuel treatment.”

Additional coverage in RV Travel: Federal lawsuit seeks reversal of U.S. Forest Service public access restrictions

The use of prescribed fire has received increased attention in California and elsewhere. It is good that there is growing recognition that fire is a natural and necessary part of forests and other ecosystems, [but] current advocacy for large-scale prescribed fire across vast areas is often built on outdated assumptions and overstated claims, while downplaying problems stemming from how prescribed fire is actually being implemented. This factsheet identifies five key sets of myths regarding prescribed fire and shows how they can lead to misguided policies and missed opportunities to better accomplish public safety and ecological restoration goals. …Prescribed fire increases fire and smoke. Prescribed fire is inefficient for public safety compared to home retrofits. Prescribed fire is inefficient for ecological restoration compared to managed wildfire. Prescribed fire can be harmful. And prescribed fire and cultural burning are not the same.

A state forest plan that aims to protect endangered species across 640,000 acres of forestland west of the Cascades while providing certainty for logging is moving toward its final stages. The proposed Western Oregon Habitat Conservation Plan would provide protections for 17 federally listed endangered species and ensure logging in other parts of the forests to limit the potential harm to those species. The species list includes the coastal marten, red tree voles, Northern spotted owl, and Oregon coast coho. The plan would protect the agency from potential lawsuits and ensure compliance with the federal Endangered Species Act for land management activities such as timber harvest, construction and maintenance in the state forests over a 70-year period. It would also improve forest conservation strategies and create a fund to help pay for habitat conservation and enhancement projects for protected species.

Inside the basement of Oklahoma State University’s Insect Adventure, the room is stacked floor-to-ceiling with buzzing, flitting, scuttling life. But one insect in particular is getting special attention by OSU researchers: the American Burying Beetle (ABB). This rare beetle, colored in black with rich orange spots, could hold the key to new medical treatments and novel meat preservation methods. But these beetles are facing threats that could wipe them out of Oklahoma — and perhaps most of the country. …The ABB once lived in at least 35 states, but has since experienced about a 90% loss of its historical range. In 1989, the species was listed as endangered. …Hoback and the team of researchers see not only medicinal benefits from studying beetle secretions, but perhaps the work could spawn a renewed interest in conservation efforts for a storied beetle with a controversial protection status.

As the spruce bark beetle continues to chew through forests in Southcentral Alaska, now affecting an estimated 1.6 million acres, the clock is ticking to salvage any marketable value out of that wood. On the Kenai Peninsula, at least 195,000 acres have been infected, and that number is still growing. The Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management Division is crafting a plan to address that destruction on 21,000 acres between Kenai and Cooper Landing in a way that is — best case — economically beneficial. But at a minimum, at least protects against wildfires and helps transition to a healthier, beetle-resistant biome. “Our primary objectives are to utilize the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s forest resources that are rapidly deteriorating,” land management agent Dakota Truitt said. “We want to reduce the economic and ecological costs to borough residents, improve the quality of the land, be a part of the sustainable industry development and reforest borough lands.”

A plan to protect critical animal habitat in nearly 640,000 acres of western Oregon state forests is moving towards its final stages. The Western Forests Habitat Conservation Plan was released March 18, and Oregonians have 60 days to submit their thoughts and concerns. …The 70-year plan is designed to better protect 17 species identified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. These animals live in the state’s western forests where logging occurs. The plan also would offer some legal protections to logging companies. …Under the new plan, the Forestry Department will focus on the protection of critical habitat. …There would be wider no-logging zones on land abutting rivers and streams to protect threatened coho and chinook salmon from sediment and heat. It also would prohibit or enact seasonal logging bans against areas known to be nesting and foraging grounds for threatened birds like the northern spotted owl and marbled murrelet.

Blair & Carol Moody

The desire to give back to his alma mater runs deep with Blair Moody, ’75. Along with his wife, Carol, the retired forester with long-lasting ties to NAU’s School of Forestry established the Blair and Carol Moody Endowed Scholarship to support and inspire current and future generations of forestry students. The scholarship is a testament to the couple’s active efforts to foster the continued legacy of excellent foresters who graduate from the School of Forestry. …As the past president of the Northern Arizona University School of Forestry Alumni Association, Moody’s generosity remains focused on his efforts to propel students toward success.

Rob Freres

The Oregon Court of Appeals recently heard arguments from the state challenging a jury’s $1 billion award to 13 counties for failing to live up to timber harvesting and revenue commitments it made in exchange for key acreage. Even though it will be months before that decision is released, it likely won’t be the last word in a conflict that has already dragged on for years. State leadership should intervene, bring the parties to the bargaining table and reach a settlement that is fair and equitable to all Oregonians. The dispute stems from a 1941 agreement in which the counties – all located along the coast or in western Oregon – donated land to the state which would manage it for the “greatest permanent value” and share revenue from timber harvests with the communities. That contract was honored for 60 years until 1998 when the state changed the rules, defining “greatest permanent value” in a way that de-emphasized harvest policies.

Forest products exist in a global marketplace. Many manufacturers in the U.S. import specialized products from other countries to produce their finished products. Russian-Baltic birch plywood is one of those products because it can be peeled into very thin veneer and layered thick with glue to add strength and stability into American-made cabinetry, flooring and more. According to U.S. Census Bureau Trade Data, the U.S. imported around 400 MMBF of forest products from Russia in 2021 to meet this need, an increase of 104% over 2020 imports. …More broadly, U.S. and China import 50% of the world’s traded softwood lumber.  …But, public lands in the U.S. have great potential to meet these needs. Oregon is the No. 1 supplier of softwood lumber in the nation and federal lands in the Pacific Northwest could be providing much more of this supply to the market.

MONTANA — We’re legendary for our iconic, forested mountaintop vistas. However, aging amenities at well-loved recreational areas, overused and overgrown trails, a changing climate and landscapes charred by larger and more severe wildfires have all contributed to our forests and rangelands being out of balance. The Agency’s new 10-Year Wildfire Crisis Strategy is a shared road map for change. More than six million acres of Montana’s public lands and watersheds are in desperate need of our collective help to reduce the risks of catastrophic wildfire and support the quality of life Montanans value. …Right up against these public and private forests and rangelands we have highly concentrated clusters of homes and businesses. These developments, without proactive measures to protect them, are at risk of tragic losses.

WASHINGTON — The Nooksack River is under enormous strain, as development brings its ecosystems to the brink of collapse and climate change chokes summer water supply by reducing the region’s annual snowpack. Recent research shows there is another party that should very likely be held partially responsible for the Nooksack’s dangerously low summer stream flows: The commercial forestry industry. Commercial forestry could reduce late-summer stream flows in the Nooksack River’s South Fork by as much as 25%, said Oliver Grah, the Nooksack Indian Tribe’s water resources program manager, referencing computer simulations developed in partnership with Western Washington University. …Commercial timber companies own about 14% of land in Water Resource Inventory Area 1, which is essentially the Nooksack River drainage, said Kenny Ocker, a communications manager for the state Department of Natural Resources.

The federal agencies that employ firefighters to suppress wildfires have struggled to hire enough personnel in recent years, but especially in 2020 and 2021 in California. Today the San Francisco Chronicle reported that after having 5,000 firefighters for multiple years in California the number working for the U.S. Forest Service dropped from 5,000 in 2019 to 3,956 in 2021, more than a 20 percent decline. The five federal agencies that have significant wildland fire programs have a total of about 15,000 positions related to fire. In the last few years the number of vacancies has been growing due to difficulty in hiring and experienced firefighters leaving the organization for better pay and working conditions. Legislation pending before Congress, the Tim Hart Wildland Firefighter Classification and Pay Parity Act (H.R. 5631), could make a difference.

Insects and drought are taking an increasing toll on Colorado’s forests, challenging the long-term sustainability and resiliency of the state’s roughly 24.5 million acres of forest, a new report says. The Colorado State Forest Service released its “2021 Report on the Health of Colorado’s Forests” on March 2. In the report, the state agency details the fragility of the state’s forests as drought compounds the damage done by beetles. Both beetles and drought threaten the future of Southwest Colorado’s forests, as CSFS partners with the U.S. Forest Service to mitigate their impacts and sketch a future for the region’s forests. …“For all trees with these bark beetles, moisture really helps them defend themselves. When they’re dry, they just don’t have the sap (and) the resources to mount an effective defense.”

EUREKA, California – The 83rd annual Redwood Region Logging Conference kicked off today at the Redwood acres fairgrounds in Eureka. The theme of this year’s conference is “The Timber Industry, an Essential Industry.” Today was education day at the conference, with hundreds of elementary students learning about forest management and wildlife. The free event for the public will continue through Saturday from 9 to 5 daily. “Logging is so important to our community because that’s part of our history, and it’s going to be part of our future. All that is changing is improving forest management and forest practices, and the students need to know that this is a future. There’s an opportunity; there are jobs, there are careers that they could look forward to, said Katherine Ziemer, with the Redwood Region Logging Conference. 

As fires haunt Oregon’s imagination of summertime, we sit to reflect on the need to define our relationship with fire through an engagement with Indigenous science or ways of knowing and understanding the world. Native American communities in western Oregon have been tending the land with fire since time immemorial. This practice, known today as cultural burning, offers many lessons on the value of fire to care for land and water. Cultural burnings are an ecological practice grounded in Indigenous science that prevents disastrous fire seasons, nourishes watersheds, sustains traditional food sources and maintains cultural practices… These practices, among many others, require the use of fire as a transformational element — fire to clear grassland, maintain forest health and encourage new growth, while rejuvenating springs and water tables. …A legacy of fire suppression after European settlement in the region has led us to a time of collective reckoning.  

The Western redcedar is an iconic Pacific Northwest tree, but it may need human help to stay healthy. On March 19, volunteers will plant young redcedars at Tacoma’s Swan Creek Park in a grassroots, classroom-focused effort to learn how these distinctive, beautiful giants can stand up to a changing climate. The event supports the Open Redcedar Adaptation Network, a new project that Joseph Hulbert, postdoctoral fellow in Washington State University’s Department of Plant Pathology, is developing. …Redcedar plantings will help public school educators bring climate adaptation research into their lessons. It will also help scientists study whether trees adapted to climate in Oregon are better suited for a drier, warmer environment. Educators and students can measure trees, compare growth between Oregon and Washington seed zones, and then share the data with classes throughout the region.

The Biden administration has unveiled ambitious plans to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires that have plagued the West in recent summers. The “Great Resignation” has thrown a serious wrench in that strategy.  The U.S. Forest Service has had chronic staffing shortages for over a decade. But amid rising wages and a fierce competition for labor across the U.S. economy, the agency faces a particularly bleak hiring picture, even as it looks to add an untold number of forest management staff (the Forest Service has declined to estimate just how many people it needs to hire) — to fight wildfires in what could be another tough season, carry out an aggressive new land management plan and continue regular forest management and surveys.  In an email obtained by POLITICO, Forest Service officials are already warning employees in California that there have been 50 percent fewer applications submitted for GS3 through GS9 firefighting positions this year compared to last.

A new study published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences combines scientific data with Indigenous oral histories and ecological knowledge to show how the cultural burning practices of the Native people of the Klamath Mountains — the Karuk and the Yurok tribes — helped shape the region’s forests for at least a millennia prior to European colonization.  The study found that forest biomass in the region used to be approximately half of what it is now, and that cultural burning by the tribes played a significant role in maintaining the forest structure and biodiversity, even during periods of climate variability.  For example, while there were probably fewer lightning-sparked fires during the cool, wet time period known as the Little Ice Age, data from the study suggests that burning in the region actually increased during that time, and that forest biomass remained relatively low.