Irvine, California — The severity of California’s wildfires has rapidly increased over the last several decades as a result of human-driven climate change, resulting in accelerated tree losses during more intense wildfires, a study from University of California, Irvine and the University of Utah reveals. “As California’s climate has become warmer and drier, the severity of the average wildfire increased by 30 percent between the 1980s and 2010s,” said Jon Wang, a professor at the University of Utah. This means that for every acre of forest scorched by fire, the damages to tree canopy are considerably higher than what they were several decades ago. …The team wanted to find out how much of the rising tree cover loss in California is due to increases in total area burned, how much of the loss is due to increasing wildfire severity and how much is due to fire moving into new areas with denser forests. 

OREGON — The state’s in-house banker looked at the repayment promise that the Oregon Department of Forestry offered in exchange for a $60 million loan and said, “No.” …The ODF approached the treasury for a loan last month after a record-setting wildfire season left the agency with a stack of unpaid invoices. It is often the case that the department, which leads the state’s response to wildfires, hires contractors to do the work, then bills the federal agencies that own the land where many fires occur. This year’s fire season, which saw nearly 2 million acres burn, cost $133 million—more than twice the previous high and far more than the agency budgeted. …Treasury officials worried about the ODF’s reliance on future funding from the Legislature… as one legislature cannot obligate a subsequent legislature. …Forestry spokeswoman Joy Krawczyk says her agency will now ask lawmakers for the money instead.

PORT ANGELES — Tree advocates have been partially successful in postponing the logging of forests owned by the state Department of Natural Resources and located within the Elwha watershed region, and they plan to continue their efforts until they achieve full success. At the November Board of Natural Resources (BNR) meeting, Hilary Franz, state commissioner of public lands and chair of the board, placed a pause on the Elwha Watershed “Alley Cat” timber sale. Franz said she pulled the sale from the agenda due to a conversation she had with Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles and the desire to have “government-to-government consideration.” Despite advocacy efforts that included a petition with more than 300 signatures and a letter-writing campaign that generated more than 6,165 letters, the six-person BNR approved two other Elwha watershed sales, “Tree Well” and “Parched.” Individuals against those sales said that the “legacy forests” were the “old growth forests of tomorrow.”

The U.S. Forest Service has released its long-awaited proposal to update the landmark Northwest Forest Plan, but many groups said they were unsure of its future with a new administration coming to power in 2025. The document, years in the making, lays out four alternatives for future management of national forests in Washington, Oregon and California by updating a 1994 law crafted by the Clinton administration. The 630,000-acre Siuslaw National Forest along the central Oregon coast would be heavily affected by any decisions laid out in a final plan. A 120-day public comment period begins now, which the agency says will help shape a final plan. “Much has changed in society and science since the Northwest Forest Plan was created nearly 30 years ago,” said Jacque Buchanan, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region. “We’re amending the plan to address today’s challenges [honoring the] original goals, while enhancing wildfire resilience.”