NW Forest Plan Advisory Committee Meeting, April 16-18, Weaverville, CA 

FYI, plan watchers….

Northwest Forest Plan Federal Advisory Committee’s  Next MeetingApril 16-18 in Weaverville, California 

PORTLAND, Ore. (Mar. 26, 2024) – The Northwest Forest Plan Area Federal Advisory Committee (FAC) will meet April 16-18 at the Redding Rancheria Trinity Health Center, 81 Arbuckle Court, Weaverville, California. This will be the fourth meeting for the Federal Advisory Committee to provide the Forest Service with recommended updates for the Northwest Forest Plan Amendment.     

The Secretary of Agriculture established this committee to support ongoing efforts to amend the Northwest Forest Plan. The Federal Advisory Committee brings together representatives with diverse perspectives, experiences and expertise — including community, tribal, government and other interest groups from across the Northwest Forest Plan landscape to inform the plan amendment.  

This group is helping the agency identify ways to effectively conserve key resources while considering social, ecological, and economic conditions and needs.  

FAC meetings are open to the public with an opportunity to submit comments. Details on meetings, including how the public can provide information to the committee is posted on the regional website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/planning/?cid=fseprd1076013.

The Federal Advisory Committee does not replace the public involvement process or the public’s opportunity to engage directly with the Forest Service regarding Northwest Forest Plan amendment efforts during the planning process.  

The Northwest Forest Plan covers 24.5 million acres of federally managed lands in northwestern California, western Oregon, and Washington. It was established in 1994 to address threats to threatened and endangered species while also contributing to social and economic sustainability in the region. After nearly 30 years, the Northwest Forest Plan needs updated to accommodate changed ecological and social conditions.  

Additional information about the Northwest Forest Plan: www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r6/landmanagement/planning/?cid=fsbdev2_026990

Federal Register Notice: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/

For more about USDA Forest Service, visit https://www.fs.usda.gov/r6.

Paper: Fire suppression makes wildfires more severe

Open-access paper in Nature Communications, “Fire suppression makes wildfires more severe and accentuates impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.”

Abstract:

Fire suppression is the primary management response to wildfires in many areas globally. By removing less-extreme wildfires, this approach ensures that remaining wildfires burn under more extreme conditions. Here, we term this the “suppression bias” and use a simulation model to highlight how this bias fundamentally impacts wildfire activity, independent of fuel accumulation and climate change. We illustrate how attempting to suppress all wildfires necessarily means that fires will burn with more severe and less diverse ecological impacts, with burned area increasing at faster rates than expected from fuel accumulation or climate change. Over a human lifespan, the modeled impacts of the suppression bias exceed those from fuel accumulation or climate change alone, suggesting that suppression may exert a significant and underappreciated influence on patterns of fire globally. Managing wildfires to safely burn under low and moderate conditions is thus a critical tool to address the growing wildfire crisis.

Thanks, Nick Smith, for adding this to your Healthy Forests news roundup today….

New Wild Turkey Federation Agreement with USFS

Apologies if someone posted about this already…. Link is here.

Amidst the increasing threat of wildfires, the USDA Forest Service has taken a proactive stance by implementing the comprehensive 10-year Wildfire Crisis Strategy designed to confront the crisis in areas posing the most immediate threats to communities. The NWTF, with a longstanding history of partnering with the Forest Service on stewardship projects nationwide, recognizes the urgency of addressing western landscape issues and fully supports the Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

The Participating Agreement enables the NWTF to enhance its support for this critical initiative by providing funding for new positions dedicated to supporting the implementation of the Master Stewardship Agreement. Funding for this agreement comes entirely from federal dollars authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes covering expenses such as personnel costs, including travel, and supporting essential meetings like Partner Coordination Meetings and Industry Coordination Meetings to foster effective communication and collaboration among stakeholders.

Currently, the NWTF has two key staff positions dedicated to implementing the Master Stewardship Agreement under the Wildfire Crisis Strategy, a Wildfire Crisis Manager and a Regional Wildfire Crisis Coordinator.

 

Homes Lost to Wildfire: It’s the Grass

CNN story:

Over the last three decades, the number of US homes destroyed by wildfire has more than doubled as fires burn bigger and badder, a recent study found. Most of those homes were burned not by forest fires, but by fires racing through grass and shrubs.

The West is most at risk, the study found, where more than two-thirds of the homes burned over the last 30 years were located. Of those, nearly 80% were burned in grass and shrub fires.

Old Growth: How Much is Enough? — 4 Responses

Back in November,  I posted “Old Growth: How Much is Enough?” with a link to the Dovetail Partners report of the same title. (Only 2 comments on TSW.)

Now Dovetail has posted 4 “guest responses” to the report. The group explains:

In November 2023, Dovetail Partners released a report titled, “Old growth forests: How much is enough?”. In the report, we explored the different definitions of “old growth” applied globally and in regions of North America and Europe, including their scientific basis. The report considered why we need old growth forests, and conversely, why we do not, and included a discussion of old growth forest protection and management. We concluded with a discussion how much old growth is ‘enough’, how we can create more, and how our understanding of the relationship between people and forests is evolving.

We asked the following individuals to respond to the report, “Old growth forests: How much is enough?”, and compiled their feedback into one document.

Marcella Windmuller-Campione
Marcella is an Associate Professor with the Department of Forest Resources at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Alexander Evans, Forest Stewards Guild
As an Executive Director, Zander focuses on building partnerships, promoting sound policy, and supporting on-the-ground implementation of ecological forestry. He has a PhD from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and worked as a cartographer and spatial analyst with the US Geological Survey.

Dave Atkins
Dave is a Family Forest Owner and President of the Montana Forest Owners Association; he is one of the authors of the Mass Timber Report.

Joseph Vaughn, CF
Joseph is a Key Account Manager at NCX and has a deep rooted passion for sustainable forest management.

Outdoor Life Magazine Looks at MOG

Nick Smith has this in his Healthy Forests, Healthy Communities email today. Interesting that it’s from Outdoor Life, which says it “has been the go-to publication of America’s diehard hunters, shooters, and anglers since 1898. Our stories are written by hunters, for hunters. We value experience in the field, at the range, and on the water above all else. Our mission is to deliver stories about success in the field, cutting-edge gear, and adventures in far-off wildernesses and close-to-home woodlots. We inspire America’s outdoorsmen and women to chase the critters they’re passionate about and fight for the wild places they love.”

Here’s Why No One Can Agree on How to Manage America’s Old Growth Forests

The Biden administration’s plan to climate-proof old growth and mature forests generates mixed opinions from the conservation community

PNW Forest Plan Revision Update and LSR Trends

The USFS press release today: “The initial comment period for the USDA Forest Service’s Northwest Forest Plan concluded Feb. 2. The Forest Service had been accepting comments on a Notice of Intent that the Agency will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to evaluate the effects of proposed amendments to the Northwest Forest Plan.” Info here.

There’s an interesting Powerpoint presentation here, “Information Winter Webinar, January 2024.” Lots of stats and trends. This slide, for example, on LSR trends. Steady until recent wildfires.

This is compelling evidence that simply setting aside older forests with little or no active management is a losing proposition.

 

Forest Service warns of budget cuts ahead of a risky wildfire season

From The Conversation: “Forest Service warns of budget cuts ahead of a risky wildfire season – what that means for safety.” By a pair of professors from Colorado State University. Excerpt:

Staffing is still a concern

Doing this work requires staff, and the Forest Service’s challenges in recruiting and retaining qualified firefighters may hinder its ability to accomplish all of its objectives.

In 2023, over 18,000 people were employed as federal wildland firefighters. While the Forest Service and Department of the Interior have not specified precise staffing targets, Moore has mentioned that “some crews have roughly half the staff they need.”

A recent Government Accountability Office report found that low wages and poor work-life balance, among other challenges, were barriers commonly cited by federal firefighting employees. The government boosted firefighters’ pay in 2021, but that increase is set to expire unless Congress votes to make it permanent. So far, firefighters have kept the same level of pay each time Congress pushed back acting on the 2024 budget, but it’s a precarious position.

The agency has started many initiatives to recruit and retain permanent employees, but it is too early to assess the results. A recent study involving one of us, Jude Bayham, found that highly qualified firefighters were more likely to remain with the agency after active seasons, during which they earn more money.

Where Will We Put All the Powerline Corridors?

This article may be of interest from Smokey Wire folks….

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription.

The Planet Needs Solar Power. Can We Build It Without Harming Nature?

Today’s decisions about how and where to set up new energy projects will reverberate for generations.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/11/climate/climate-change-wildlife-solar.html?unlocked_article_code=1.U00.n-mx.vSGlqqnyJPuL&smid=em-share

Some perspective: I live about 250 yards from a Bonneville Power Administration power line corridor that runs from The Dalles, Oregon, to Troutdale, known as Big Eddy–Troutdale No. 1. The corridor cuts across the Mt. Hood National Forest and a bit of private land for about 43 miles (measured via Google Earth Pro). Most of corridor was cleared of timber when it was built in the 1950s; these days, BPA crews regularly cut seedlings and shrubs and/or use herbicides on the brush before it grows tall enough to interfere with the lines. At roughly 375 feet wide, this section of the corridor is essentially a clearcut that covers about three square miles.

This article reports that, according to a National Renewable Energy Laboratory 100% clean electricity study, 91,000 miles of new high voltage interregional transmission lines are needed by 2035 to carry “affordable, reliable clean energy.”

Creating Fire-resilient Landscapes 2004

Rainy day, so I’m cleaning out my office — I do so every decade or so. Found a flier for a 2004 conference in Medord, OR, sponsored by OSU’s College of Forestry: “Creating Fire-resilient Landscapes: Improving Our Understanding and Application.” A decade later, we’re still working on it….