Region Archives: US West

Business & Politics

Undisclosed buyer purchases closed Philomath mill for $15 million

By Brad Fuqua
Philomath News
August 17, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

Interfor Corp.’s exit from its former Philomath sawmill operation is now complete with the Canadian-based company’s sale of the property and assets to an undisclosed buyer. Rick Pozzebon, Interfor’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, mentioned the sale during a company earnings call this month following the release of financial results from the second fiscal quarter. During the call, Pozzebon said Interfor’s financial position was supported by $48 million of operating cash flows in the quarter, driven by the release of $72 million of working capital. …“An undisclosed buyer acquired Philomath sawmill from Interfor Corporation for $15 million,” Market Screener reported. “On June 27, 2024, the company sold property and assets of the former Philomath, Oregon, sawmill for cash consideration of $15 million,” Lumber Blue Book wrote.

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Willamette Falls paper mill will lay off 158 in West Linn, may close permanently

By Mike Rogoway
The Oregonian
August 6, 2024
Category: Business & Politics
Region: United States, US West

WEST LINN, Oregon — A 135-year-old paper mill in West Linn plans to lay off 158 workers this week and may shut down permanently at the end of the month if it cannot find a buyer or investor. A permanent shutdown would trigger the layoff of an additional 65 workers, according to a notice Willamette Falls Paper Co. sent to state and city officials Tuesday. “While it is hoped that this will be a temporary layoff and a buyer will want to continue the plant’s operations and hire our employees, if Willamette Falls Paper Company is unable to raise capital or sell its assets, the mass layoff will be permanent,” company President Brian Konen wrote. Workers received notice of their pending layoff Tuesday. They will be out of work indefinitely beginning Friday, when the mill will cease operations. Konen said the company will make a final decision on the plant’s future by Aug. 30.

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Finance & Economics

Clearwater Paper reports Q2, 2024 net loss of $26 million

Clearwater Paper Corporation
August 6, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

SPOKANE, Washington — Clearwater Paper, a supplier of bleached paperboard and consumer tissue reported financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2024. Highlights include: Net sales of $586 million, up 12% from the second quarter of last year, primarily driven by incremental sales volume from Augusta; Net loss of $26 million compared to $30 million income in the second quarter of last year; Adjusted EBITDA of $35 million, $36 million less than second quarter of last year, driven by the $32 million impact from the planned major maintenance at the Lewiston, Idaho facility. …”On July 22, 2024, the company announced that it has signed definitive agreements to sell its consumer products division (tissue business) to Sofidel America Corp. for $1.06 billion, subject to customary adjustments. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval other customary closing conditions and is currently expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2024.

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Boise Cascade reports positive Q2, 2024 results

Boise Cascade Company
August 5, 2024
Category: Finance & Economics
Region: United States, US West

BOISE, Idaho – Boise Cascade reported net income of $112.3 million on sales of $1.8 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared with net income of $146.3 million on sales of $1.8 billion for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023. …Wood Products’ sales, including sales to Building Materials Distribution, decreased $40.5 million, or 8%, to $489.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, from $530.3 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. …Wood Products’ segment income decreased $31.3 million to $72.8 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, from $104.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 BMD’s sales increased $18.7 million, or 1%, to $1,655.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2024, from $1,636.5 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023. …”Our team delivered solid financial performance while operating in a somewhat tepid demand environment influenced by elevated mortgage rates and economic uncertainties,” stated Nate Jorgensen, CEO.

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Wood, Paper & Green Building

A Seattle first at 14th and Union, the Heartwood’s residents can see, touch, and feel the timber — But challenges to affordable housing have trimmed the excitement

Capitol Hill Seattle Blog
August 21, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

In better times, you would hear more about the Heartwood, a recently completed mass-timber affordable apartment building at the core of Capitol Hill and the Central District, that puts its residents in direct contact with a building material more closely connected with the planet and the feelings of home. The cross-laminated timber project is one of the first in the country to be designed with full exposure of mass timber in the structure. The newly opened building’s eight stories feature full exposure of its timber beams so residents and visitors can see, touch, and feel the wood. Other types can build higher — like this project on First Hill — but require that the wood be kept “encapsulated.” But the Heartwood’s amazing composition has been overshadowed. …Despite the financial challenges, the Heartwood is becoming a new Capitol Hill green architectural icon. The building is a testament to modern sustainable living and innovative design. 

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ZGF Architects places nine-acre mass-timber roof on Portland airport terminal

By Ben Dreith
Dezeen Magazine
August 15, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

American studio ZGF Architects has completed an expansion to the main terminal at Portland International Airport, installing a massive mass-timber roof that was prefabricated to keep the airport operational. The airport’s giant roof was made from metal and glued-laminated timber (glulam) that forms over 400,000 square feet (37,161 square metres) of beams and lattice and spans nine acres (3.64 hectares), according to the studio. The main terminal has opened, marking a major phase in the renovation of the airport, which has been underway for the last decade. ZGF Architects was tasked with essentially doubling the operational space, unifying facilities and mechanical systems that have been built in different phases since the 1950s. Draped over the entirety of the central terminal, which includes an entry program, ticket counters, concessions, and gates, the roof features an undulating pattern with 49 skylights.

Additional coverage in DesignBoom: World’s largest mass timber airport opens to travelers in Portland, Oregon

Finance & Commerce, by Chuck Slothower: Portland airport terminal reopens with timber-centric remodel

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It’s stronger than steel, lighter than concrete and captures carbon — mass timber is the future

By Josh Farley
The Seattle Times
August 9, 2024
Category: Wood, Paper & Green Building
Region: United States, US West

SEATTLE — When Portland International Airport’s $2.15 billion expansion opens Wednesday, guests will… wal­­­k beneath a rippling 9-acre lattice ceiling and thick glulam beams that total 2.6 million board feet of Douglas fir, much of it harvested by tribal loggers and sustainable foresters from Washington state. It’s a showcase of the lifeblood of the Pacific Northwest: our vast forests. It’s also a glimpse of what is possible using “mass timber” — layered lumber that’s stronger than steel, lighter than concrete and capable of capturing carbon. But this ambitious effort by the Port of Portland has no such parallel in Seattle — yet. …Susan Jones, a Seattle mass timber architect said, “Seattle, a hub of this new industry, should be the place where we make a big statement with it.” It’s high time elected leaders around Puget Sound went out on a limb building with this stuff. Mass timber projects are cropping up all over the world.

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Forestry

Should nature take its course? A Fish and Wildlife Service action plan poses a dilemma for conservationists

By Alex Alben and Jennifer McCausland
The Astorian
August 22, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Eradicate a half-million members of one owl species to preserve a related species that is endangered. The northern spotted owl is no stranger to controversy. In the 1980s and 1990s, the owl became the symbol of the struggle between environmental champions opposed to the destruction of the owls’ habitat and the timber industry. …This controversy raises an ethical issue as to what extent humans should “play God” to determine the fate of a species. …Humans, through our urban development and forest management — or mismanagement — practices, have paved the way for hundreds of mammalian and avian species to move to safer and more promising climes. …Racing to kill one species that has taken a hundred years to move across the country is fraught with peril and poses larger questions about whether in some cases it is better to let nature take its course.

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Oregon State University Feels the Heat of Mac-Dunn Forest Planning Ire

By Doug Pollock, founder, Friends of OSU Old Growth
The Covallis Advocate
August 20, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Our nation’s leading forestry school came under heavy fire on June 5th, as dozens of upset citizens and even their own experts harshly criticized their forest planning process. Oregon State University is roughly two years into their update of the 2005 management plan for the (~11,250-acre) McDonald-Dunn Research Forests, located near Corvallis. OSU’s “community input session” was intended to be an opportunity for citizens to vote on the “5 new forest management strategies” that OSU’s College of Forestry intends to implement across the forests. However, things did not go according to plan. Angry citizens criticized a wide range of problems, from flaws in OSU’s modeling, to its non-collaborative approach to forest planning, and its failure to steward these public forests. ….Generations of College deans have used these public forests as a “cash cow” to fund pet projects and pay the salaries of the guys who manage them mostly for timber production.

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Emerald ash borer, known for wiping out ash trees, discovered at 3 Oregon sites

By Zach Urness
Salem Statesman Journal
August 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

One of the most destructive invasive insects in the United States has been detected in three more Oregon counties this summer. Federal and state officials said Monday the emerald ash borer, known for killing 99% of Michigan’s ash trees and killing thousands more across the East Coast, has been detected in Yamhill, Clackamas and Marion counties. The small metallic-green beetle, native to eastern Asia, was first found in Oregon in Forest Grove in June 2022. Since then, extensive testing has taken place to attempt to limit the species damage in Oregon. …Once detected, officials quarantine the area. Officials are working out the details of a quarantine to limit the movement of ash, olive and white fringe tree wood, and other materials similar to the one in Washington County. 

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Less Severe Forest Fires Can Reduce Intensity of Future Blazes

By Emily Dooley
University of California Davis
August 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA — Not all forest fires have devastating effects. Low- and moderate-severity forest wildfires can reduce the intensity of future conflagrations for as long as 20 years in certain climates, according to new research by the University of California, Davis. The extent of reduced severity of these second fires, or reburns, and the duration of the moderating effect, varies by climate, forest type and other factors. But initial fires continue to mitigate future severity even during extreme weather, such as wind, high temperatures and drought, research published in the journal Ecological Applications finds. The researchers used satellite remote sensing to study more than 700 reburn fires over the past 50 years throughout the western United States. The findings shed light on the positive effect some of these blazes can have on forest resilience and could play a key role in helping land managers decide where to focus risk reduction efforts while adapting to a changing climate.

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A Reno arboretum acts as final resort in saving Sequoia trees

By Cole Johnson
KTVN News Nevada
August 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The giant Sequoia tree is endangered as longer fire seasons and droughts continue to play a part in its decline. Now, the Wilbur D. May Arboretum acts as a place where a few of these trees can stay safe from wildfires. The trees arrived when the arboretum opened nearly 40 years ago. The plan is that if Sequoias in the Sierra Nevada are wiped out by fires, these ones will be used to bring them back. “It’s important that they are genetically pure. They’re specific to Kings Canyon in case there is a wildfire, so they have a place to come to gain seeds for the reseeding of that area if a forest fire were to hit that area,” says Frances Munoz, Executive Director for the May Arboretum Society. …They are kept here because it’s very unlikely that a wildfire could make its way to the arboretum.

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A Path Through Scorched Earth Teaches How a Fire Deficit Helped Fuel California’s Conflagrations

By Bing Lin
Inside Climate News
August 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

The second in an series Inside Climate News fellow Bing Lin is reporting from the Pacific Crest Trail in Northern California. The series is exploring the impacts of climate change on the trail and what outdoor recreation can teach society about sustainability, adaptation and coexistence in a warming world. …Hugh Safford was the U.S. Forest Service’s regional ecologist for California, Hawaii and the Pacific territories for 21 years, up until his retirement in 2021. At 61, he’s also still an adjunct professor at the University of California, Davis, running a lab researching vegetation and fire ecology and management. …“These forests here,” Safford said, pointing through the windshield to the left, “they’re adapted to very frequent wildfires but haven’t had them for 100 years. And that’s the single biggest management issue out here. They’re way too dense, there’s way too much competition, and as a result, there’s a crazy amount of mortality. 

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Oregon gets rain, 3,379 lightning strikes. How will it impact wildfires?

By Zack Urness
The Salem Statesman Journal
August 18, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

A rare August thunderstorm brought upwards of an inch of rain and 3,379 lightning strikes to Oregon on Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. The storm, which brought moisture in from the Gulf of Alaska, doused the entire western half of the state with at least a quarter inch of rain. Some locations in the Cascade Foothills and High Cascades saw over an inch of rain, meteorologists said. …“It’s not the type of event that we typically see at this point in August,” NWS meteorologist Jon Liu said. The heavy and widespread rain will slow the wildfires burning in Oregon’s Cascade Range. …Oregon actually ended up with three times as many lightning strikes as the storm in July that ignited many of the fires currently burning in the Cascade Range. The difference this time was the amount of rain doused flames before they could get rolling.

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Fighting Fire With Fire – The Demise of Prometheus

by Dana Tibbitts
California Globe
August 19, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

LAKE TAHOE, Nevada — As the American West grapples with an unprecedented wildfire crisis, a sobering reality emerges: our approach to forest management is not just flawed, but potentially catastrophic. The concept of using fire to fight fire, once hailed as innovative, now stands as a testament to our hubris in the face of nature’s raw power. August 14, 2024, marked the third anniversary of the Caldor Fire, a devastating blaze that serves as a grim reminder of our misguided policies. This inferno, which destroyed over 1,000 homes in mere hours, is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a larger, systemic problem in forest management strategies. The Caldor Fire’s destructive path echoes a similar tragedy from a century earlier. In August 1923, another fire in the same area devastated the California Door Company’s lumber operation. This eerie repetition of history underscores a crucial point: our failure to learn from past mistakes has dire consequences.

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New Forecasting Tool Predicts Wildfires to Hit California Hard in Fall

By The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)
Patch
August 8, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Using a first-of-its-kind machine learning tool, researchers at Columbia University and New York University have come up with a way to forecast the risk of forest fires in any particular region of the western US months in advance, and they can do so within minutes as opposed to hours. The breakthrough approach – which uses mathematics to assess the problem of fire based on climate data and is the first to use machine learning to make seasonal forecasts on a monthly basis – was unveiled recently in SIAM News, a publication of Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) and presented at the 2024 SIAM Conference on Mathematics of Planet Earth. According to the researchers, the tool’s creation was spurred by last summer’s record-breaking fire season, originating in Canada and lasting longer than normal, with larger burn areas and more severe fires that significantly impacted air quality in large parts of North America.

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Pacific County Judge Rejects Anti-Forestry Lawsuit Targeting Washington DNR Timber Sale

By American Forest Resource Council
The Forks Forum
August 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Pacific County Superior Court Judge Donald J. Richter last week rejected a lawsuit by anti-forestry groups claiming the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) violated state laws in approving a timber sale in mature forest stands, also politically labeled as “legacy forests,” on public working forests known as state trust lands. This case on the Freedom Timber Sale is the first to reach the merits stage in a long line of nearly identical legal challenges by anti-forestry groups to other sales developed through DNR’s timber program… The ruling affirms the agency’s forest practices in managing these lands. Under the state constitution and law, DNR state trust lands are required to be managed to provide revenues to defined beneficiaries, which include public schools, local public safety agencies, and various community services. These public working forests also provide clean water, wildlife habitat, climate change mitigation and recreational opportunities.

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How to increase our forests’ resistance to wildfires

By Alice Kaufman
Redwood City California Pulse
August 15, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

CALIFORNIA – 2024 is shaping up to be another bad year for wildfires. As we scan the headlines each morning for news of the latest blaze, it’s important to focus on what we can do to increase the resistance of our forests to catastrophic wildfires. Prior to the colonial era, Indigenous tribes used fire to promote healthy forests for thousands of years. For example, studies have shown that the amount of forest biomass in the Klamath region used to be half of what it is now due to regular burning practices by the Karuk and Yurok tribes. What we often think of as untouched wilderness was in fact actively managed by Indigenous tribes, and the suppression of those cultural burns is largely what has caused the unhealthy conditions in Western forests today. …We can restore our forests to health by using techniques like controlled burning and mechanical thinning to clear out fuels. 

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Wildfires are increasing toxic mercury in Idaho streams, new study finds

By Elizabeth Walsh
The Idaho Statesman
August 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

IDAHO — Wildfires have been burning across Idaho this summer, and their list of harmful impacts is long. But a recent U.S. Geological Survey has added another bad side effect to the list: the rise of a toxic chemical. The study sampled 57 streams at the beginning of river systems in Idaho, Oregon and Washington for mercury, a chemical that can damage the human nervous system at high concentrations. In both water and sediment from the streams, one-year post-fire, mercury concentrations were higher. Concentrations of methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury, were also 178% higher in water from burned streams. Insects that filtered stream water or ate debris also had higher levels. The compound becomes dangerous as it accumulates in animals over time, according to the WHO. “There hasn’t been a lot of work done on the effects of wildfire on mercury,” Austin Baldwin, a USGS research hydrologist who led the study.

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In Our View: Managing state’s forests complex responsibility

By the Editorial Board
The Columbian
August 14, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

No, this is not a repeat. But as the state Department of Natural Resources plans to harvest old-growth timber in Clark County, the issues sound familiar. The agency is proposing the harvest of 156 acres on five parcels within the historic Yacolt Burn area. The acreage provides habitat for federally protected northern spotted owls, but a report from the Department of Natural Resources says the harvest will not have a significant adverse impact on the environment. The mere mention of spotted owls likely resonates with many residents, calling to mind a debate that dates to the 1980s. …Bumper stickers such as “Save a logger, eat an owl,” were a common sight. So, it is not surprising that a proposal to log the old-growth forests that are the owls’ primary habitat would raise hackles. …Officials said their lands include adequate habitat for the spotted owl, allowing them to harvest excess old-growth trees.

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Bears depending on this season’s whitebark pine seed crop

By River Stingray
Buckrail
August 12, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

©Eric Johnston // NPS

JACKSON, Wyo. — August marks the beginning of a period of foraging for black and grizzly bears as whitebark pine cones mature. …cones that began growing in late May 2023 are currently completing their development. …whitebark pine seeds are one of the most nutritious foods for bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. …the seeds are a high-energy food that are rich in fats, carbohydrates and protein, extremely valuable to bears fattening up going into fall before hibernation. …Clark’s Nutcracker are key to the extraction and dispersal of these seeds, what is called a “critical and obligate mutualism.” Bears must access the indehiscent cones themselves and extract the seeds with their claws, lips and tongue. Red squirrel middens, or caches, on the ground provide access to the cones, but grizzly bears will also pull down branches to access cones. Some grizzlies and most black bears will also climb into trees to obtain them.

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Logging industry’s wildfire claims are misleading the public

By Chad Hanson, fire ecologist, John Muir Project
The Hill
August 12, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Chad Hanson

The Park Fire in northern California has reached approximately 400,000 acres in size, and already logging industry advocates are pushing out misinformation about the fire in an attempt to promote their deceptively-named Fix Our Forests Act logging bill. The timber industry’s political apologists tell us that the Park Fire grew so big, so fast ostensibly because public forestlands are “overgrown” and in need of “thinning.” …the Fix Our Forests Act would roll back bedrock environmental laws to give logging companies even greater access to mature and old trees on our national forests and other public lands. …the self-serving claims made by logging interests do not stand up to even casual scrutiny. In fact, about three-quarters of the Park Fire isn’t even in conifer forest. …The truth is that this “overgrown forests” narrative, which is being spun by the logging industry and its political apologists, is a new and insidious type of climate change denialism.

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USDA Rural Development awards Region 9 $90,000 to leverage timber businesses

By Laura Lewis
The Pagosa Springs
August 8, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

COLORADO — The Region 9 Economic Development District of Southwest Colorado announced that it will receive $90,000 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Rural Development to work with Eco Strat USA to identify timber industry assets and receive a Business Development Opportunity (BDO) Zone rating for Southwest Colorado. The project will support the development of small and emerging businesses and will benefit existing logging and sawmill companies, transportation and logistics companies, as well as emerging bio-manufacturing companies. Existing timber businesses could benefit from being a promoted BDO Zone to further develop supply chain and commercial markets. …The project area will cover Montezuma, La Plata and Archuleta counties, specifically including Pagosa Springs, Mancos and Dolores.

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Salt River Project raising millions to thin buffer zones throughout Rim Country

By Peter Aleshire
The Payson Roundup
August 7, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

ARIZONA — The Salt River Project continues to move forward with its ambitious plan to protect Rim Country communities from wildfires, including three major thinning projects totaling some 24,000 acres. The Gila County Board of Supervisors this week agreed to chip in another $5,000 to help SRP and the Forest Service complete the 4,300-acre North Payson Project. The Forest Service and SRP have so far raised or pledged $2.4 million for a project that will ultimately cost $4 million. The thinning project will eventually grind up brush and saplings on some 14,000 acres of pinyon-juniper woodlands around Payson. The juniper, manzanita, cat claw and shrub live oak have little commercial value – so a normal logging contract remains impractical.

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Oregon State University study compares ways to manage forest regrowth for climate mitigation

By Shari Phiel
The Columbian
August 6, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

When it comes to nature versus nurture, a new study from an Oregon State University scientist found the most cost-effective way to manage forest regrowth for climate mitigation is actually a combination of both. Jacob Bukoski from the OSU College of Forestry and seven other researchers compared data from thousands of reforestation sites in 130 low- and middle-income countries. The researchers found using a combination of the two approaches would be 44 percent better than natural regeneration alone and 39 percent better than planting by itself. … Bukoski said the study only compared two of the many ways to expand tree cover. “Basically, use a diversity of approaches for expanding tree cover in your jurisdiction if that is the goal. In some areas, natural regeneration may be perfectly capable of meeting your goals and need.”

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Forest thinning projects continue at Lake Tahoe

Tahoe Daily Tribune
August 6, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – Tahoe Fire & Fuels Team forest thinning projects are scheduled to continue for the next several weeks, conditions and weather permitting. Some projects are expected to continue through the fall. For project details, including the lead agency, start date and expected duration, view the Forest Thinning Projects Map at Tahoe Living With Fire which highlights current and upcoming projects. Forest health is a top priority of the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP), a landscape-scale collaboration and partnership between nearly 80 public and private organizations to achieve the environmental goals of the region. To date, partners have treated nearly 95,000 acres in Lake Tahoe Basin forests to reduce hazardous fuels. After decades of fire suppression, Tahoe Basin’s forests are overstocked and highly vulnerable to insects, disease, and catastrophic wildfire. Forest thinning projects are a vital forest management tool…

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An Oregon tree study could help northern forests weather the climate crisis

By Liam Baker
CBC News
August 2, 2024
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US West

Amanda Brackett

Wildfires have long been known to burn large swaths of forests, wreaking havoc on tree canopies and communities that the forests surround, but a new study from Oregon State University says there hasn’t been enough consideration of how heat can impact the growth of new trees. The research, published in the Canadian Journal of Forest Research, studies the stresses that temperature spikes can have on young trees, also known as seedlings. Researchers developed a metric known as Stress-Degree Hours, which measures the stress that higher than average temperatures over a given period of time can have on young plants. Data was gathered using Douglas fir seedlings in western Oregon, during the region’s heat dome in 2021. …The study shows that for every 10 per cent increase in canopy cover, maximum temperatures two centimetres above the ground decreased by 1.3 C.

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Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy

Plan for Elliott State Forest would put its 83,000 acres into fighting climate change

By Alex Baumhardt
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
August 19, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Oregon’s oldest state forest could soon join just a few state forests in the nation that are managed to combat climate change and earn money from selling carbon credits. The 83,000-acre Elliott State Research Forest near Coos Bay was logged to provide revenue for Oregon schools before transitioning in 2022 into a research forest. Oregon Department of State Lands officials, who are in charge of managing the forest, want the next chapter of the Elliott’s story to be about lowering harmful greenhouse gas emissions by storing carbon dioxide in trees and selling those benefits as carbon credits. The State Land Board … will vote Oct. 15 on the plan to manage the forest primarily … to store carbon dioxide in exchange for revenue from polluting companies. While state lands officials support the plan, it’s raised concerns among some of the agency’s former forest management collaborators … who fear the scheme would limit research and logging.

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Oregon State has valid reasons for opposing Elliott forest carbon-crediting scheme

By Bob Zybach
The Oregon Capital Chronicle
August 20, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

Oregon State University and the Department of State Lands agreed in February 2019 to produce a research and management plan for the Elliott State Forest near Coos Bay by the end of that year. The proposed plan was supposed to focus first on conservation and then on using many of the trees to store carbon from the atmosphere and sell those credits. Nearly five years later, in November 2023, OSU President Jayathi Murthy told the department that the university would be terminating its agreements on research and management of the Elliott. The university’s primary reason for this decision was its “significant concerns” regarding the department’s intent to move forward with a carbon sequestration scheme. …The Elliott was created to help fund schools through timber sales and as a research forest. For two generations, it has done both and could continue to do so but not by selling carbon credits.

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Construction of biomass plant to reduce wildfire risk in Northern California foothills gets green light

By Kayla Moeller
CBS Sacramento
August 8, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

YUBA COUNTY – The Yuba River Watershed is one of the only watersheds in California to be untouched by wildfires and they want to keep it that way. Construction can now move forward for a biomass plant that will help reduce the risk of wildfires after a funding vote was approved Tuesday by the Yuba Water Agency. A project that has been trying to get going for a decade now has the green light. Its main purpose is to clean up the forest by taking woody debris and other fire fuel material and converting it into electrical energy for the grid. “We are behind by decades in investing in projects like this,” said Yuba Water Agency Watershed Manager Joanna Lessard. As California’s wildfires continue to burn hotter and more frequently, environmental leaders are scrambling to get ahead of them, including the nonprofit Camptonville Community Partnership.

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California Wildfires Consume Forests Used For Carbon Credits

By Violet George
Carbon Herald
August 9, 2024
Category: Carbon, Climate & Bioenergy
Region: United States, US West

The Park Fire in California has ravaged vast tracts of forestland designated for conservation under carbon credits initiatives backed by oil refiners and power companies. It has scorched approximately 450,000 acres, has destroyed nearly 45,000 acres of trees enrolled in California’s carbon offset program, according to estimates from the non-profit research group CarbonPlan. Additional fires earlier this year also impacted over 29,000 acres of forestland in Washington state and New Mexico that are part of California’s carbon credit scheme. Major oil corporations are among the purchasers of these credits. The destruction of conserved forests has raised concerns about the sustainability of carbon credit forestry projects in fire-prone regions. California’s program includes a “buffer pool” of unsold credits to replace losses from wildfires, pests, drought, etc. Every project contributes 10-20% of its credits to this pool. However, researchers are worried that the buffer pool is insufficient to address the scale of recent wildfires. 

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Health & Safety

Firefighter in critical condition after being hit by tree at Idaho wildfire

KPAX Missoula & Western Montana
August 12, 2024
Category: Health & Safety
Region: United States, US West

KAMIAH, ID — A firefighter is in critical condition after being hit by a tree while working on a wildfire in Idaho on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. U.S. Forest Service firefighter, Justin Shaw, 26, was taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane following the incident. “The quick actions of all involved, including the firefighters on the incident, dispatch, local medical responders, and Life Flight personnel, helped ensure Justin is receiving the best care possible,” said Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests Acting Forest Supervisor Molly Ryan. “We are so thankful to everyone who helped.” Shaw, the Assistant Crew Foreman for the Salmon River Ranger District, was hit by a tree during an initial attack at the Coffee Can Saddle Fire at approximately 9:00 p.m. (PDT) on Saturday, according to a news release.

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Forest Fires

Emergency closure area reduced for Pyramid Fire in Willamette National Forest

By Elliott Deins
The Register-Guard
August 19, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Willamette National Forest has slightly reduced an emergency closure area for the Pyramid Fire, according to a new release. As of Monday morning, the Pyramid Fire had burned 1,324 acres and was 76% contained. The area reopened is a small region directly south of Detroit Lake, according to closure maps. However, many of the recreation sites in the Old Cascades region near Santiam Junction still remain closed, according to the new map. “The general closure area extends from Forest Service Road (FSR) 11 south to Highway 20, encompassing the Middle Santiam Wilderness,” the release said.

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Progress reported in containment of western Oregon wildfires

By Rebecca Hansen-White
Oregon Public Broadcasting
August 14, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Several wildfires are burning along the Interstate 5 corridor in Oregon. Here’s an overview of many of them as of Wednesday morning. Fire officials say the Dixon Fire, which sparked near the community of Tiller east of Canyonville, has burned at least one home so far. The fire threatened about 40 structures when it first sparked Saturday. It’s now grown to nearly 2,000 acres. Evacuation levels have been adjusted with 18 structures in the Level 3 “Go Now” area and 13 in the Level 2 “Be Eet” area. Fire crews did make significant progress overnight Monday, setting up water stations at key points and mopping up hot spots near structures. The Willamette Complex South, made up of eight lightning fires that have spread on either side of Aufderheide Drive, has been burning for nearly a month. …Willamette National Forest updates… Umpqua National Forest updates…

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Oregon wildfires: Record for acres burned broken, Crater Lake closes north entrance

By Zach Urness
The Salem Statesman Journal
August 12, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

Wildfires in Oregon have burned more acres of land this year than any since reliable records began, according to data from the Northwest Interagency Center. A total of 1,399 fires have burned 1.49 million acres or 2,200 square miles, surpassing the 2012 total of 1.2 million acres and the 2020 total of 1.14 million acres. This year, humans have caused 976 fires that burned 900,103 acres while lightning has ignited 423 fires that burned 592,509 acres. Gigantic grass fires on the east side of the state have defined this season, just as they did in 2012. Much of the acres burned this season have come from megafires such as the Falls Fire (146,250 acres), Cow Valley Fire (133,490 acres), Lone Rock Fire (137,222 acres) and Battle Mountain Complex (181,941 acres). …The largest forest fire of the modern era was the 500,000 acre Biscuit Fire, which burned in southwest Oregon in 2002. Forest fires tend to last longer and often have a greater impact overall.

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Huge California wildfire chews through timber in very hot and dry weather

Associated Press
August 8, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

CHICO, Calif. — California’s largest wildfire so far this year continued to grow Thursday as it chewed through timber in very hot and dry weather. The Park Fire has scorched more than 660 square miles (1,709 square kilometers) since erupting July 24 near the Sacramento Valley city of Chico and burning northward up the western flank of the Sierra Nevada. Containment remained at 34%, Cal Fire said. The conflagration’s early explosive growth quickly made it California’s fourth-largest wildfire on record before favorable weather reduced its intensity late last week. It reawakened this week due to the heat and very low relative humidity levels. A large portion of the burned area was in mop-up stage but spot fires were a continuing problem, officials said during Thursday morning’s operational briefing. The fire’s northeast corner was the top firefighting priority, operations deputy Jed Gaines said.

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Warner Peak Fire near Lakeview explodes to 17,000 acres

By Molly O’Brien
The Herald and News
August 8, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

LAKEVIEW, Oregon— A wildfire in Lake County that was spotted over the weekend has grown exponentially from 1,500 to 17,000 acres over the course of one day. Oregon Department of Forestry’s interim assistant district forester Jennifer Case said the Warner Peak Fire is burning on lands that are treacherous for fire crews to fight. “Difficult access, steep terrain, and we did have a red-flag warning (Wednesday),” Case said. “So that’s going to contribute to fire behavior.” As of Wednesday afternoon, Inciweb reported a total of 160 personnel assigned to the fire. Case noted a lack of resources has also contributed to the sudden expansion of the blaze. …As of Thursday morning, the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge is closed. No evacuations are in place at this time.

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Forest Service: Pacific Northwest wildfires likely to burn until fall rains arrive

Tacoma Weekly
August 8, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

PORTLAND — Fire Managers in the Pacific Northwest predict that many wildfires currently burning in Washington and Oregon, and potentially new ones, will persist until rain or snow come this fall. Firefighters are actively battling these fires. With widespread lightning expected this month, fire managers will be adopting a strategic approach to integrate risk management, ecosystem resilience, and community involvement on long-duration fires before typical east wind events potentially arrive around the beginning of fall. “Our planners are taking a realistic look at current wildfires, expected new fires, and the resources we have to help us safeguard human lives and property while enhancing our ability to respond to wildfires in high-risk areas,” said Jacque Buchanan, Regional Forester for the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service. …firefighters working long-duration wildfires will focus on stopping fires as they approach critical areas like communities, powerlines, water supply systems, and natural and cultural resources.

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Oregon wildfires: State nears modern record for acres burned as season approaches apex

By Zack Urness
The Salem Statesman Journal
August 6, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

The vast majority of Oregon was at high or extreme wildfire risk heading into the year’s hottest month as the state nears a modern record for the most acres burned in a season. The National Interagency Fire Center classified every part of Oregon, except the northwest, at elevated risk for wildfire in August and September in its latest forecast. State climatologist Larry O’Neill said the only part of Oregon at normal fire danger was the Coast Range and Oregon Coast. “That’s the one part of the state that’s close to normal, but besides that, we’re basically holding on for dear life everywhere else in Oregon,” he said. “We’re not really expecting any significant rain until about mid-September, so the hope is that things just stay stable.” By stable, O’Neill said he was hoping for no more significant lightning storms that bring new fires, no major human-caused fires and especially no east winds.

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Wildfires in Oregon: Progress against Durkee Fire while blazes grow elsewhere

By Meagan Cuthill
Oregon Public Broadcasting
August 5, 2024
Category: Forest Fires
Region: United States, US West

OREGON — More than a million acres have burned so far in Oregon’s wildfire season. As August gets underway, here’s an overview of some active blazes. Firefighters are seeing some success in Eastern Oregon. The Durkee Fire, which at one point in July was the largest wildfire in the country and even created its own weather, was 86% contained as of Monday morning. The lightning-caused wildfire has burned nearly 295,000 acres. Crews expect the fire to reach full containment on Thursday. …While growth of the Durkee Fire has slowed, Eastern Oregon could see concerning conditions over the next few weeks. The Eastern Oregonian reports officials are worried about the possibility of more simultaneous large fires in August and September — and the potential for firefighter burnout and exhaustion.

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