In 2012, wildfires burned 9.3 million acres, while the U.S. Forest Service harvested approximately 200,000 acres. This means that 44 times as many acres burned as were responsibly harvested and restored. According to the U.S. Forest Service, 65-82 million acres of Forest Service Lands are at “high risk of wildfires.” Source: U.S. House Natural…
The La Grande Observer recently published the following commentary by BoiseCascade’s Lindsay Warness and Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities’ Nick Smith: Oregon’s public forests are a public treasure from which many people derive pleasure, solace, and a living. Forestlands in Oregon are incredibly diverse and provide a wide range of benefits for the people who live,…
Evelyn Badger-Nores is the executive director at Douglas C.A.R.E.S., a child abuse response and evaluation service provider based in Roseburg (The views in this column are hers alone.). In this column, Ms. Badger-Nores says a lack of jobs and economic opportunities has led to an increase in child abuse and neglect in her local rural…
Commissioner Chris Brong explains why federal government should allow forest-dependent Skamania County a freer hand in the use of its resources: SKAMANIA County is the most environmentally “protected” county in the West. But at what cost? Our unemployment rate is 11.5 percent, much higher than the 5.1 percent rate in King and Snohomish counties. Our median…
Here’s Jennifer Phillippi’s response to a radical activist who recently attacked her family over the recent closure of their Rough & Ready sawmill, the last in Josephine County. This piece originally appeared in the Grants Pass Daily Courier: Andy Kerr’s May 1 Guest Opinion about my family’s announcement to close Rough and Ready Lumber after 91…
In a letter to federal land managers, Oregon Congressman Greg Walden urges the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service to recognize forest management as a solution for preventing catastrophic wildfires and combatting rural poverty. Here’s an excerpt of the letter: The current ecological health of our forests is not good, and the economic…
Watch County Commissioner Simon Hare discuss how active forest management can help restore more economic opportunity for rural communities.
In Washington D.C. the growing debate over reforming federal forest policies is focused on improving forest health and providing a short-term extension of timber payments to county governments. These issues are important, but the primary goal of any federal forest legislation should be to promote forest management as a means to increasing employment and fighting…
Read professional forester Troy Reinhart’s recent opinion piece in the Bend Bulletin about forest management. Troy Reinhart: Expanding Management is Good for Forests’ Health In a recent “In My View” column, it was argued the best way to assure forest health is to do absolutely nothing. Allowing forests to remain vulnerable to catastrophic wildfire, insects and disease,…
On this Arbor Day, learn how Idaho forests can be managed to meet social, environmental and economic needs. From the Idaho Forest Products Commission.