The western U.S. has a debt to pay, one that has been piling up interest for over a hundred years. “If there’s an accumulation of fuel, it’s due for a fire. It’s a fire debt,” said Danny Whatley, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. “If you don’t pay it this year, it’s due next year. And if you forego, it’s just a bigger debt every year you put it off.” Western forests want to burn. Decades of federal fire suppression policies aimed at extinguishing all blazes have allowed forests to grow dangerously dense creating conditions for wildfires to get out of control. Many of the estimated 99 million people living near overgrown forests are now coming to accept this wildfire paradox – that more fire is how they make payment and save the place they love.

DNA samples from one of the world’s largest and oldest plants — a quaking aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) in Utah called Pando — have helped researchers to determine its age and revealed clues about its evolutionary history. By sequencing hundreds of samples from the tree, researchers confirmed that Pando is between 16,000 and 80,000 years old, verifying previous suggestions that it is among the oldest organisms on Earth. They were also able to track patterns of genetic variation spread throughout the tree that offer clues about how it has adapted and evolved over the course of its lifetime. The findings were posted on the bioRxiv preprint server on 24 October.The work has not yet been peer reviewed.

WASHINGTON — A petition seeking to stop a logging and forest management project in October Mountain State Forest was signed by nearly 600 citizens and submitted this week to Gov. Maura Healey. The petition by the group, Preserve October Mountain State Forest, was also sent to state Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Brian Arrigo. The document says the group wants to not only stop the project in what is the state’s largest forest, but also to place this entire property into a forest reserve “so it will be primarily by natural processes with minimal human interference.” “The goal,” the petition says, “is to retain an intact forest for wildlife, water and soil protection, carbon accumulation and recreation.”

The closure of Roseburg Forest Products in Missoula and Pyramid Mountain Lumber in Seeley Lake put 250 workers out of a job this year. Samuel Scott is a forest economist with the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Montana. In a presentation Friday requested by the Montana Forest Collaboration Network, Scott said the mill closures could lead to a 20% reduction in Montana’s timber harvest, if the lumber industry isn’t able to add processing capacity. “…This is a worst case scenario of where we could be headed if nothing changes,” said Scott. It’s unclear how or when the work done by Pyramid Mountain and Roseburg could be replaced. Pyramid Mountain began auctioning off its machinery and equipment last week. The company says the mill is working with a potential buyer and that they would likely bring in all new equipment if they complete the purchase.

Monday night’s planning meeting for the McDonald-Dunn was the fourth public session in Oregon State University’s multi-year process to come up with a new management plan for these public forests. One would think the leaders of the College of Forestry would have fine-tuned their process for public engagement, but the litany of complaints from frustrated citizens showed that they still have a lot to learn. The unwelcome involvement and comments by the dean of the College created further discontent with OSU’s planning process. …It is both alarming and telling that nearly all twelve of OSU’s scenarios still involve a significant amount of clearcutting, termed, “rotational forestry.” On average, OSU’s twelve scenarios dedicate roughly 40% of the McDonald-Dunn to clearcut forestry. …It remains to be seen whether OSU is willing to incorporate public input to any meaningful degree. At Monday’s meeting, the community soundly rejected both OSU’s forest management and its approach to forest management. 

Two environmental groups filed a lawsuit Thursday to stop a plan to kill barred owls, which is part of a federal plan to save endangered spotted owls. Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Washington state challenging a plan by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to kill a maximum of 450,000 barred owls over the next 30 years. Northern spotted owl populations have been rapidly declining due in part to competition from invasive barred owls, which originate in the eastern United States. …USFWS said it worked for years on a plan that would remove less than one-half of 1% of the North American barred owl population. …“As wildlife professionals, we approached this issue carefully and did not come to this decision lightly,” USFWS Oregon State Supervisor Kessina Lee said in announcing the decision in August.

PORT ANGELES — The Elwha Legacy Forest Coalition may not be the Lorax, but they still speak for the trees. On Tuesday, the state Board of Natural Resources (BNR), which oversees the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will vote on whether to move forward with three timber sales, totaling 725 acres, that are fully or partially located within the Elwha River Watershed. To oppose these timber sales and their potential environmental impacts, organizations and citizens bonded together to form the Elwha Legacy Forest Coalition. …These forests in questions have been labelled “legacy” forests by advocates — mature, structurally complex forests that contain a breadth of diversity. …“Whenever and wherever we find it [old growth], it is permanently conserved,” said Duane Emmons, DNR assistant deputy supervisor for State Uplands. …If the sales are postponed or canceled, many junior taxing districts are worried about the loss of timber sale revenue.