…Already, forestry technicians are fanning out across Oregon’s federal forests, marking small-diameter trees with orange paint for removal by logging companies. Such “thinning” reduces the amount of fuel that can feed a wildfire. …But increasingly, that orange paint marks a dead end. Most Oregon mills aren’t built to handle these small diameter logs, and those logs are worth so little that cutting and hauling them often costs more than they are worth. …The Department of Forestry says roughly 13 million acres of state forestland need thinning to cut fire risk. But in many of the places that need it most, there’s no mill close enough to take the wood. …This year, two federal thinning sales, the Austin ODOT sale on the Malheur National Forest near John Day and the Pint sale on the Ochoco National Forest near Prineville drew zero bids at auction. …It’s a gap neither Salem nor Washington has been willing to name.