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Land managers in both the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and federal agencies have set a target of intentionally burning 400,000 acres annually by next year, an amount of land that when combined would be larger than the city of Los Angeles. The goal is to chip away at the 10 million to 30 million acres that officials estimate would benefit from some form of fuel reduction treatment. In 2022, the most recent year for which there is data publicly available, about 96,000 acres were burned by these land managers… While the state is increasing its use of beneficial fire, as the method is called, officials and experts alike say it is far from enough to meet the threat posed by catastrophic wildfires.

A frozen forest, preserved as tiny seeds packed in tall stacks of labeled boxes, holds the future of California‘s scorched woodlands. With wildfires consuming trees at an alarming rate, the role of the sub-zero repository at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection’s Reforestation Center is taking on new urgency… “There’s a moral imperative for human involvement at this point,” because decades of fire suppression have created overcrowded forests that burn quickly and intensely, said Leana Weissberg. Decades ago, before environmental regulations reduced logging in forests and the timber industry collapsed, there was a bustling business of nurseries. At its height, the U.S. Forest Service had 13 tree nurseries in the nation; today, only six remain, including one in Placerville.

As Oregon heads into another hot weekend, Oregon House Republicans are calling on the state Legislature to reform forest management and logging policies they say would prevent large fires from starting and spreading… In a letter sent Wednesday, representatives said lawmakers should roll back regulations and conservation plans to allow more logging on state forests, limit liabilities for volunteer firefighters who might cause injury or property damage while on the job and prohibit and sweep homeless encampments in fire prone areas… “Oregon’s war on the timber industry must end,” the Republicans wrote. “The logging industry plays a vital role in clearing out deadwood and decreasing the severity of fires. Seven sawmills have closed this year due to anti-business policies. Republicans support reforming burdensome regulations while treating the lumber industry as partners in conservation.”

The Oregon Department of Forestry is warning the public to remain cautious and safe as the risk of wildfire remains high across the Pacific Northwest. The Oregon Department of Forestry wants to remind Oregonians that with weather fluctuating across the state, fire is still on the landscape and fire season is still in effect,” the ODFW announced on Sept. 5. “Oregon is still experiencing one of the worst seasons we’ve seen in the past decade, and the department warns the public against complacency.”

State foresters say their project will help the land and help curb the effects of climate change. But some environmentalists, climate scientists, town officials and a growing number of residents don’t agree, and want the land largely left alone… The project involves killing invasives like barberry that are running amok, and preparation to cut dead and dying trees that are infested with pests like the emerald ash borer and spongy moth. It also involves cutting that will open up areas of the forest for new trees so there is variation in future that will help sequester carbon. The forest cutting plan says it will yield 458 Mbf, or thousand board feet, from a variety of trees including sugar maple, as well as 350 cords of wood.

Credit: Ian C. Bates

What happens if you set a region full of technology entrepreneurs and investors on fire? They start companies. Dozens of start-ups, backed by climate-minded investors with more than $200 million in capital, are developing technology designed to tackle a fundamental challenge of the warming world… For years, the response to wildfires was simple: Put them out. But this strategy has unnaturally stockpiled biomass — a catchall term for trees, brush and grass — in California forests. In recent decades, foresters and firefighters have realized that battling wildfires requires “treating” their fuel in advance: thinning forests and underbrush with mechanical tools and controlled — or prescribed — burns. There’s just one problem: “There aren’t enough hands,” said Kate Dargan, a former CalFire chief. “This is not a high-paying industry, it’s a hot, dirty, hard industry … where technology can help assist human production capability, it’s really important.” [To access the full story, you may need to create a New York Times free account]