Category Archives: Forestry

Suzanne Simard

The Douglas fir is a symbol of the Pacific Northwest [that] represents the checkered past of overlogging. Suzanne Simard of the University of British Columbia … is no friend of Big Timber after her groundbreaking research elevated the understanding of preserving healthy old forests. …Simard and colleagues are focused on the species’ survival in the face of climate stressors. …migrating genotypes or provinces northward gives the seedlings a chance to take root. …The study counters grim environmental concerns by encouraging individual action. A recent example can be found at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island [where] authorities arrested about 1,200 protesters who stopped [harvesting]. Now, Canadian officials have extended a moratorium on logging in Fairy Creek to next year. “It’s not that one watershed is going to change the world, but the movement changes the world,” Simard said. Then she adds, “The trees are still there, communicating with each other.” 

Another 29,800 acres of timberland just got conserved under easement as working forest, the third phase in Columbia Land Trust’s project of protecting about 75,000 acres, sold by SDS lumber company in 2021. Columbia Land Trust hopes to conserve almost everything except the mill itself, buying the most important 15,000 acres of habitat outright. They hope to put the other 60,000 under conservation easements. In this case, Washington’s Department of Natural Resources will hold some of the rights over the 29,800 acres of land. It can be sold, but never developed; it must always remain working forest. This is the trust’s biggest project to date… SDS Lumber was the last family-owned, vertically-integrated (meaning it owned and operated most stages of its own supply chain) timber company in this part of the Northwest.

A small but important drama is playing out now in a city of Portland land use decision involving power lines, Portland General Electric and five acres of Douglas Fir at the north end of Forest Park… The land-use fight obliges us to confront uncomfortable tradeoffs. Carbon from burning fossil fuels in power plants and automobile engines drives climate change. Shifting to zero-carbon wind and solar electricity drives down climate risk – including the risk of wildfire. Connecting new wind and solar to Portland will require upgraded and new transmission lines across many prairie and forestlands. Where we can avoid impacts to community, cultural and natural values, we should. But it is a vexing fact of our climate-altered world that where we can’t, we have to make these tradeoffs.

Related content: 

• Courthouse News Service: In Portland, a battle between preservation and more electric power

Photo Credit: Peter Brown

Contrary to what people might think, North American forests are burning less, not more, according to new data. A study published in Nature Communications reveals how this trend may be causing more aggressive fires… Using a fire scar dataset known as the North American Tree-Ring Fire Scar Network, which originated from work done at the University of Arizona Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research, researchers were able to compile a clearer picture of historical fire geography and frequency. This allowed them to compare recent seemingly extreme wildfire events – such as the California August Complex Fire and the Arizona Bighorn Fire of 2020 – with events from the past… The fire scar data used in the study was collected from more than 1,800 sites across North America, spanning diverse forest types.

A new Colorado State University study of the interior U.S. West has found that tree ranges are generally contracting in response to climate change but not expanding into cooler, wetter climates – suggesting that forests are not regenerating fast enough to keep pace with climate change, wildfire, insects and disease. As the climate becomes too warm for trees in certain places, tree ranges have been expected to shift toward more ideal conditions. The study analyzed national forest inventory data for more than 25,000 plots in the U.S. West, excluding coastal states, and found that trees were not regenerating in the hottest portions of their ranges – an expected outcome. More surprising to the researchers was that most of the 15 common tree species studied were not gaining any ground in areas where conditions were more favourable, indicating that most tree species likely will not be able to move to more accommodating climates without assistance.

LINCOLN, Nebraska — The Arbor Day Foundation is investing in technology to help trees grow faster. This investment aims to draw millions of tons of CO2 out of the atmosphere over the next decade, while restoring microbial biodiversity to thousands of acres of forests. Arbor Day’s Impact Fund … is supporting Funga PBC. The startup utilizes DNA sequencing and advanced data analysis to identify growth-promoting, native fungal communities that used to be present and have been degraded over time by land management practices and other factors. Funga then inoculates seedlings with these fungal communities at the nursery, so that these fungi will be established on the tree’s roots at the time of planting. Early results have shown that Funga’s inoculants can increase survival rates and boost tree growth by an average of 30%. This process not only restores and protects belowground biodiversity, but it also enables forests to pull more carbon out of the atmosphere.

The Trump administration has halted funding for federal programs to reduce wildfire risk in western U.S. states and has frozen hiring of seasonal firefighters as part of broad cuts to government spending, according to organizations impacted by the moves. The reduction in resources for wildfire prevention after devastating blazes in Los Angeles …with some expecting losses as high as $35 billion. The Oregon-based non-profit Lomakatsi Restoration Project said its contracts with the federal agencies, including the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to reduce hazardous fuels in Oregon, California and Idaho, have been frozen. …The American Loggers Council, a logging industry group, said the funding freeze has also stopped work under the $20 million Hazardous Fuels Transportation Assistance program, which pays for removing dead wood from forests …calling on the administration to exempt forest management programs from the suspension in federal funding.

PORTLAND, Oregon— President Donald Trump’s administration is holding up money for wildfire mitigation projects funded through legislation championed by his Democratic predecessor, threatening efforts to prevent catastrophic blazes like the ones that recently ripped through Southern California. The decision undermines Trump’s repeated insistence that communities need to clear combustible materials like fallen branches and undergrowth — “it’s called management of the floor,” he said while visiting Los Angeles last month — to guard against wildfires. Elizabeth Peace, a spokesperson for the Interior Department, said via email that mitigation work is “currently undergoing review to ensure consistency” with Trump’s executive orders. The scrutiny is being applied only to projects using money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, two centerpieces of former President Joe Biden’s administration. They included roughly $3 billion for wildfire mitigation efforts, often known as hazardous fuels reduction programs.

The U.S. Forest Service has completed assessment reports on over 20 topics that will inform how the Tongass National Forest will be managed in decades to come. The last comprehensive plan for the Tongass was done in 1997. There have been a few amendments since then, but the plan is still missing a lot about the way the forest is today. Barb Miranda is a spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service. “Our economic fabric has shifted from timber to tourism,” she said. “The reason why we are doing a plan is not just because we’re required to, but everything’s changed in the last 25 years.” The assessments are a comprehensive look at what the federal agency knows about the Tongass now and will help inform the new plan. They cover timber, energy and minerals to subsistence and the status and uses of the land. Nearly all assessments mention climate change as a future challenge.

Drew Peltier

Drew Peltier, assistant professor in the School of Life Sciences, is only half joking when he tells you the reason he is in his field is because he couldn’t find a real job. Growing up in California, around some of the largest organisms on Earth — redwood trees — was also a big influence. …“Las Vegas and the surrounding areas are the perfect experimental laboratory to learn about the limits of tree physiological tolerance to extreme climates,” says Peltier, “and my research shows many tree species are exceptionally drought resilient, but we need to take care of our urban trees.” …Research in the lab focuses on trees across the Western U.S., from tiny pinyon pine to the tallest and largest trees on earth, like coast redwood and giant sequoia. …It is extremely clear at this point that we need to rapidly transition to alternative energy, like solar and wind, as soon as possible.

Oregon could have far fewer firefighters ready to battle blazes on federal lands next fire season — and may do less advance work aimed at mitigating the risk of large fires — due to the Trump administration’s hiring freeze and funding cuts, according to U.S. lawmakers. Oregon U.S. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have joined over a dozen other lawmakers, all Democrats, in calling on the administration to issue an exemption for thousands of seasonal firefighters so federal agencies can prepare for “what’s expected to be another devastating wildfire year.” …Federal agencies hire about 15,000 seasonal firefighters every year, according to a similar letter U.S. Senator Adam Schiff, D-California, sent Friday. …Trump’s hiring freeze order exempts positions related to “public safety,” but it doesn’t specifically exempt wildland firefighters. As a result, some agency officials have stalled onboarding until they get more clarity.

Related News from Source New Mexico by Julia Goldberg: U.S. Sen Heinrich: USDA funding and firefighter hiring freeze threatens communities

Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources: Heinrich, Murray, Merkley, Klobuchar Demand Answers from USDA on Wildfire Mitigation Projects, Firefighting Hiring Halted by Trump’s Funding Freeze

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced the Future Logging Careers Act, a bill aimed at allowing teenagers from logging families to gain early hands-on experience in the industry under parental supervision. The legislation, introduced by U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Angus King (I-Maine), along with U.S. Representatives Glenn “GT” Thompson (R-Pa.) and Jared Golden (D-Maine), would amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to permit 16- and 17-year-olds to work in certain mechanized logging operations. Similar exemptions currently exist for youth working in family-owned farms. Supporters of the bill, including the American Loggers Council and the Associated Logging Contractors of Idaho, argue that the measure would help sustain family-run logging businesses by allowing younger generations to gain experience before entering the workforce as adults. Industry representatives have pointed to labor shortages and the challenges of retaining workers as key reasons for the bill’s introduction.