From 2020 to 2021, the Castle and Windy Fires in California combined to burn 154,000 acres of National Forest System lands (excluding designated Wilderness areas). Both fires caused extensive deforestation. Half of the acres burned in the Castle Fire alone resulted in 100 percent tree mortality, and notably, it burned through ten giant sequoia groves.…
Episode 5 of Rick Dancer’s Truth About Timber Series: Rick visits the Oregon Logging Conference, the largest gathering of forest professionals in the country. Hear from a school teacher who is educating her students about modern technology and opportunities in the woods. The Chief of the U.S. Forest Service hears first hand what those in…
“Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story.” – Mark Twain This comes to mind when considering the reaction by anti-forestry groups (and some in the news media) to the Biden Administration’s new old growth policy, which we covered here. “Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday announced a new proposal aimed at…
In December, the Biden Administration announced its long-awaited policy to conserve old growth forests on lands managed by the federal government. The policy caps a nearly two-year process after Biden signed his Earth Day executive order in 2022, including defining, inventorying and assessing the greatest threats to the nation’s old growth. The primary threats to…
People can learn a lot about timber management going to school and getting a degree. But there are generations of loggers in Oregon, who not only have some formal education in logging, but have spent their entire lives working and understanding the industry. The family you are about to meet has logging roots that go…
The U.S. Forest Service is floating a new rule to potentially grant “perpetual rights of use and occupancy” for carbon waste injection under national forests and grasslands. Such rights may include constructing extensive infrastructure such as pipelines, injection wells, and well pads: Environmentalists slammed the proposed rule, calling it “industrial carbon waste dumping.” Said one…
When fires start in Oregon forests, loggers and others in the industry are some of the first people on the scene to fight fires. In our third of a series called “The Truth About Timber,” we profile those who drop everything to get their crews, equipment and expertise to the fire. On a recent trip…
Wildfire smoke has reversed a quarter of air quality gains achieved under the federal Clean Air Act, according to a new study published in Nature. The Clean Air Act, first approved in 1972, targets particulate matter called PM2.5 that is 30 times smaller than the diameter of a human hair. PM2.5 is commonly emitted through…
By Corey Bingaman, Western Oregon Field Coordinator for the American Forest Resource Council Fuel reduction projects are often maligned by those who oppose active forest management. Critics point to the fact that, during certain conditions, no amount of fuels reduction will stop large fires from burning out of control. Although evidence suggests that fuels-reduction projects…
The Camp Creek Fire, currently burning perilously close to Oregon’s Bull Run watershed, underscores the need for proactive forest management. As the flames have inched closer to the watershed that serves as the primary drinking water source for the city of Portland, it becomes evident that policies prioritizing preservation over proactive mitigation may be putting…