Roundtable warns dense forests and fewer mills are fueling Oregon’s record fire seasons

By Kate Stuzin
KMTR Eugene Oregon
September 10, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

EUGENE, Ore. — After more than 2.5 million acres burned across Oregon this fire season, forestry and agriculture experts gathered in Eugene Thursday to discuss ways to prevent another record-breaking year. The Healthy Forests Roundtable at the Veterans Memorial Association building focused on what participants described as a need to shift more attention toward wildfire prevention and forest management. One of the main solutions discussed was thinning forests to reduce the amount of fuel available to burn. Participants said removing excess trees and vegetation can make forests more resilient when fires start. But they also pointed to a challenge facing that work: Oregon has fewer mills available to process timber removed from forests. …The roundtable also highlighted what participants described as a disconnect between state and federal forest management. Harvests on federal lands have dropped 90% since 1990, according to information presented during the discussion.

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