Region Archives: US West

Foresters across the country are asking private landowners for help saving white oak trees, and Missourians have eagerly answered the call. More than 40 people recently signed up to help the University of Missouri Extension and the state Department of Conservation plant and raise white oak tree seedlings. The project is a part of the White Oak Initiative, a more than 15 state effort that aims to make forests more suitable for the trees. Brian Schweiss, a sustainable forestry specialist with MU Extension, said the white oak is a critical component of the forest ecosystem and supports wildlife. However, young trees are struggling. “We have a lot of mature white oak, but we don’t have a lot of young trees that are coming up, replacing the mature trees that are harvested or died.”

PORT ANGELES — The committee of commissioners representing five encumbered counties, including Clallam and Jefferson, have arrived at a recommendation for how timber revenue from replacement lands should be distributed between the counties. The ratio agreed upon by the committee, known as the impact share method, will distribute funds based on how many encumbered acres each county has when compared to the total number of acres encumbered between the five counties. The Washington State Association of Counties (WSAC) will vote on the recommendation at its Feb. 5 meeting, Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias said. Encumbered counties are those which have substantial portions of their state trust land set aside for protection of endangered species such as marbled murrelets and northern spotted owls.

Firefighters last week began setting backfires to contain the Horton Fire, which continues to burn in unseasonally warm, dry conditions on the face of the Mogollon Rim. The Forest Service resorted to backfires due to rough, overgrown conditions that make it too dangerous for firefighters to engage the fire directly. That frightens many homeowners. …The controlled burns being used to tame the 1,100-acre Horton Fire are not managed fires – since they represent the only safe strategy to stop the human-caused blaze. …Numerous studies have proven that the Forest Service will have to substantially increase the use of managed fires to restore forest health and protect forested communities. …The key problem lies in the increase in tree densities across millions of acres of Arizona ponderosa pine forests in the past century. …The problem has been compounded by approval of homes and subdivisions in that now endangered Wildland-Urban Interface.

Oregon homeowners who live in certain high-risk wildfire areas defined by the state must now meet new building codes and reduce vegetation around their homes under new “wildfire hazard maps” unveiled Tuesday. The release of the maps follows a record-breaking wildfire season last year and firestorms in 2020 that killed nine people and destroyed thousands of homes. The state-developed maps — which will not affect homeowners’ insurance rates, under Oregon law — create new rules for those living in the most fire-prone areas that also border wildlands such as forests or grasslands. The provisions impact 6% of the state’s roughly 1.9 million tax lots, a reduction from an earlier version developed in 2022 but retracted after homeowners raised concerns that it would increase insurance premiums. …In Oregon, the new building and so-called defensible space codes will affect only about 106,000 tax lots. But experts say that’s an important step in identifying and protecting fire-prone areas.

Forecasters warned Southern California could see a “life-threatening, destructive” windstorm this week, as powerful gusts and dropped humidity levels raise the risk for wildfires in parched areas still recovering from a recent destructive blaze. Gusts could reach 80 mph (129 kph) across much of Los Angeles and Ventura counties as winds intensify Tuesday into Wednesday. Isolated gusts could top 100 mph (160 kph) in mountains and foothills. “Scattered downed trees and power outages are likely, in addition to rapid fire growth and extreme behavior with any fire starts,” the weather service office for Los Angeles said. The weather service warned of downed trees, knocked over big rigs and motorhomes, dangerous conditions off the coasts of LA and Orange County, and potential delays at local airports. Areas where gusts blowing across tinder-dry vegetation could create “extreme fire conditions” include the charred footprint of last month’s wind-drivenFranklin Fire, which damaged or destroyed 48 structures in Malibu.

The Oregon Department of Forestry Tuesday released final versions of statewide wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps developed by Oregon State University scientists. …The wildfire hazard map was mandated by Senate Bill 762, a $195 million legislative package in 2021 aimed at improving Oregon’s wildfire preparedness through fire-adapted communities, safe and effective response to fire, and increasing the resilience of the state’s landscapes. The hazard map is designed to support property owners with information about potential wildfire hazards in the landscapes where they live. It also provides state agencies with guidance as to where actions can be taken to reduce the danger wildfire poses to people, homes and property. …By law, the maps cannot be used by insurers to adjust rates. Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation oversees the insurance industry in the state.

Related coverage in KTVZ.com: New Maps Show Wildfire Risk in Your Area

On January 6th, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection announced the receipt of $5 million to support the California Forest Improvement Program. This funding is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Inflation Reduction Act funding, aimed at strengthening financial incentives for private forest landowners to manage their forests sustainably and to permanently conserve private forests in partnership with states. CalFire’s program will provide technical assistance and direct cost-share payments to support the implementation of forest resilience and climate mitigation practices across 2,458 acres of private nonindustrial forest land with this additional funding. United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack emphasized the importance of forests, noting that private forestlands make up more than half of all forests in the U.S. He stated that the Inflation Reduction Act is helping provide the necessary resources for private forest landowners to maintain working forests for future generations to enjoy their benefits.

In 2022, President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling for the protection of the last mature and old-growth forests on federal lands, but the Trump administration poses an existential threat to what’s left of these ancient trees… Last year the Oregon Board of Forestry, which oversees state forest management, approved proceeding with a habitat conservation plan that will make roughly 45% of our state forests off limits to most logging. Unfortunately, roughly 9,500 acres of mature and old-growth forest, nearly one-quarter of what remains, have been left out of these conservation areas and will be clear-cut. This is where Kotek’s leadership is badly needed. She can provide a ray of hope in light of Trump’s vow to let timber and other extractive industries plunder our federal public lands.

Resource managers tasked with managing the Flathead River’s three forks under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act announced they’re rebooting a public-engagement process despite falling short of a goal to have completed the draft plan and environmental assessment months ago. The Flathead National Forest published its “proposed action” document for public review on the agency’s project website... The document lays out several recommendations to mitigate direct human impacts to natural resources, including prohibiting motor-vehicle camping or parking on gravel bars; requiring solid human waste containment within 200 feet of the river’s edge; and requiring a metal fire pan or fire blanket for campfires above and below the high-water mark within the Wild and Scenic River corridor on the North and Middle forks… The last management plan was adopted in 1980.

CALIFORNIA — President Joe Biden will designate 206,000 acres of volcanic mountains east of Mt. Shasta as the new Sáttítla National Monument. The expected newly designated Sáttítla National Monument is considered a one-of-a-kind geological formation in North America. Sáttítla’s underground aquifer feeds a stream system that supports wildlife and supplies fresh water to millions in California. “Even among California’s remarkable diversity of landscapes and ecosystems, Sáttítla stands out for its exceptionally high fish and wildlife values,” said Joel Weltzien, a day after three California lawmakers called for the national monument designation. …Biden has been pushing to cement his environmental legacy before he leaves office, including protecting public lands and designating hefty federal funds. …President Donald Trump sharply reduced the footprint of Bears Ears National Monument, among others, and sought unsuccessfully to modify or eliminate the Antiquities Act sharply. Biden, in turn, restored Bears Ears and other monuments that shrunk under Trump. 

President Biden plans to add another national monument, this one near Joshua Tree National Park, and is making plans to travel to California in the coming days to dedicate the Chuckwalla National Monument, according to people familiar with the matter. Some Native American tribes, environmentalists and members of Congress have been pushing Mr. Biden to set aside land for the proposed Chuckwalla monument, which lies between the Colorado River and Coachella Valley in Southern California. The designation will add a large new chunk of land to the area next to the Joshua Tree National Park — making it the biggest contiguous protected area in the country. …The designation will bolster the Biden administration’s efforts to protect at least 30% of lands and waters by 2030, and will block the Chuckwalla from mining, drilling and logging, sources said. …Biden has created six monuments and expanded two others officials have said.

Robert Wise, 1960

If you go to a tree nursery, they will often tell you that the best time to plant a tree is today. For one West Seattle family, the best time started 70 years ago, when their grandfather began purchasing regenerating timberland with an eye to the future. Just this month, Robert Wise’s vision and his family’s work stewarding that land led to his grandchildren and their spouses being named National Outstanding Tree Farmers of the Year by the American Forest Foundation… While the Wises were raising their two sons and daughter in the city, Robert wasn’t initially able to realize the dream of owning his own timberland. But in 1954, he had the opportunity.

Just days after Christmas in 1973 President Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act, establishing one of the strongest conservation laws in history. …The Northern Spotted Owl has proven to be the most controversial of animal species listed. Its “threatened” designation in the late 1980s sparked legal battles between logging companies and environmental groups later named the Timber Wars. …The Northwest Forest Plan was amended in a monumental compromise between environmental groups and the timber industry in 2022 when Governor Kate Brown singed into law the Private Forest Accord. …The Forest Service has proposed additional amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan that may open up millions of acres of western lands to logging. The final environmental impact statement of that plan will be released in 2025 under the Trump administration, which has promised extensive deregulation. The Northern Spotted Owl remains listed as endangered.

When Oregon’s 2024 fire season ended in late October, over 1.9 million acres had burned across the state. For Tyler McCarty, district manager at the Coos Forest Protective Association, fires today are a “night and day difference” from what they were 20 years ago. …“When I first started, a two or three thousand acre fire was a big fire,” McCarty said. “One of the fires that my instant management team was on this year was 180,000 acres.” As the Oregon fire season trends longer and fires burn larger, McCarty and others who work with Oregon’s remaining few forest protective associations are grappling with questions about how they will retain personnel and secure enough funding to fight the fires of the future. “Right now we’re operating in a system with a funding model that doesn’t support the fires that we’re seeing today.”

PORT GAMBLE, Washington — Over 450 acres of forest land has been acquired by Great Peninsula Conservancy, completing a major piece of the historic Kitsap Forest & Bay preservation effort near the North Kitsap community of Port Gamble. The Bremerton-based nonprofit announced the purchase of North Kitsap Divide Community Forest on Monday. Procuring this land parcel now ensures the forest is protected and managed by GPC as a conservation and recreational resource for Kitsap residents. …This marks the final accumulation in the Kitsap Forest & Bay Project, creating a more than 5,000-acre wildlife corridor stretching from the Hood Canal to Puget Sound’s Central Basin. Also including a portion of the future route of the Puget Sound to Olympics Trail, which will bridge the Olympic Mountains to Sound Greenway.

Darren Goodding

State officials have announced that Darren Goodding will serve as the first manager of the Elliot State Research Forest. … Most recently, he oversaw planning, science application, and communications for the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Goodding earned a master’s degree in sustainable forest management from Oregon State University, with additional study in natural resources and recreation resource management at OSU, advanced silviculture at Colorado State University and forest carbon management at Michigan State University. He will begin his new role on January 13th. …Goodding currently serves on the boards of the Oregon Tree Farm System and the Washington State Society of American Foresters, the steering committee of the Northern Blues Forest Collaborative, and is the federal liaison to the Northeast Oregon Forests Resource Advisory Committee.

…Dead and dying trees — referred to as snags — pose severe risks to public safety, firefighter effectiveness and long-term forest health. Yet, contrary to claims, post-fire removal of dead and dying trees on state and federal lands is minimal, hindered by relentless litigation that threatens lives, compromises recovery efforts and delays the natural regrowth of our treasured forests. …Snags are far from benign. They fall unpredictably, endangering those working in or passing through these areas. When ignited, these dead trees burn intensely, creating spot fires and releasing embers that exacerbate the spread of wildfires. As they decay, snags create dense brush fields — a dangerous cocktail of highly flammable fuels. …By supporting post-fire salvage operations, we can ensure our forests recover more quickly, safely and sustainably. This is not just about restoring the land — it is about protecting lives, preserving our natural heritage and preventing the next catastrophic fire.

Logging would be allowed in millions of acres of national forest in Washington, Oregon and California, including older trees currently off-limits to cutting, under proposed amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan. The conservation plan was enacted in 1994 and includes 24 million acres across federal land. It was intended to preserve mature and old-growth forests and protect species, including the marbled murrelet, threatened and endangered salmon and the northern spotted owl. Now the Biden administration has embarked on an update of the plan to address changes, including a loss of nearly 7% of protected old-growth forest within the plan area because of wildfire. The loss has eliminated gains of old growth achieved during the first 25 years of the plan. The Forest Service intends to issue a final environmental impact statement on the proposed amendments in 2025, under the incoming Trump administration. What that will mean for the outcome is unclear.