The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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Jim Petersen’s interview with Lynn Bennett, U.S. Forest Service, retired, Salmon, Idaho, is well worth reading.
From the Pew Charitable Trusts:
New Research Can Help Support Health of National Forests
Sound climate change-focused management will benefit both people and environment
Excerpt:
In light of these growing challenges, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is considering new policies that would support the health and sustainability of national forests. These updates have the potential to benefit both people and nature, now and into the future. The USFS can better incorporate climate change-ready practices in four ways.
1) Use the best available science.
2) Identify specific climate change-ready management tools.
3) Monitor and adapt to changing conditions.
4) Engaging communities and Tribes.
The Forest Service is accepting public comment on how it can improve management of NFS lands and be climate change ready. The agency must hear from the public by July 20 about the need to update its policies to support the sustainability of our nation’s forest landscapes. Comments can be submitted to the agency here.
PR from the Willamette National Forest in Oregon below. Twitter posts follow. Question: If the fire is “creeping and smoldering,” maybe it ought to be monitored, not suppressed, since it probably is a beneficial fire.
Firefighters respond to lightning-caused fire in the Three Sisters Wilderness
McKenzie Bridge, Ore., – July 6, 2023. On July 5, a lightning-caused fire was reported in the Three Sisters Wilderness near Mink Lake Basin north of Park Trail #3530. The fire is named the Moonlight Fire and is approximately 2 acres. Fire behavior is characterized by creeping and smoldering. Currently, 10 smokejumpers are on scene working to suppress the fire. A medium sized type 2 helicopter will arrive later today and will be working out of McKenzie Bridge. Tomorrow, McKenzie River’s 20 person hand crew will arrive in addition to the smokejumpers.
The fire is being managed by McKenzie River Ranger District using full suppression tactics to put the fire out. There is no current threat to structures or nearby communities. We advise the public to please stay out of the area. Updates on Moonlight Fire will continue as needed.
Fire danger level on the Willamette National Forest is “high” and the IFPL level is at IFPLII. There are currently no public use restrictions in place for fire, but Forest Service officials urge everyone to exercise caution while recreating in the woods, especially if they have a campfire. A campfire should be contained in a pre-existing or robust fire ring with a shovel and water in reach. The campfire should be kept small and at least five feet away from any flammable material, including overhanging tree limbs. Never leave a campfire unattended and ensure any burning material is cold to the touch before leaving the area.
Please be aware of current restrictions before you head out and share current information with others who may be unaware of the restrictions. As fire restrictions change, information will be available at https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/willamette/fire. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @WillametteNF for the latest updates. To report a wildfire, please call 9-1-1.
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Deschutes National Forest Twitter posts:
(3/3) The fire is being managed by McKenzie River Ranger District using full suppression tactics to put the fire out. There is no current threat to structures or nearby communities. We advise the public to please stay out of the area.
(2/3) Currently, 10 smokejumpers are on scene working to suppress the fire. A medium sized type 2 helicopter will arrive later today and will be working out of McKenzie Bridge. Tomorrow, McKenzie River’s 20 person hand crew will arrive in addition to the smokejumpers.
(1/3) On July 5, a lighting-caused fire was reported in the Three Sisters Wilderness near Mink Lake Basin north of Park Trail #3530. The fire is named as the Moonlight Fire and is approximately 2 acres. The fire behavior is characterized by creeping and smoldering.
The USFS has an interesting and detailed storymap on the 2022 fire in Oregon. Burned 112K+ acres around Waldo Lake, a popular recreation area.
From the LA Times yesterday. Hanson makes some good points about fire, but he doesn’t mention that the health of the giant sequoias is also influenced by competition from white fir and other species. It is those competing trees that “bulldozers, chain saws and logging” would remove, not mature giant sequoias.
In my Inbox this morning….
 
Steven,
There’s nothing like walking through an old-growth forest.
Magnificent Douglas firs, red spruces and white pines stand like giants against the sky, while ferns, shrubs, mosses and wildflowers dot the understory.
But right now, 20 logging projects from the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia to the Kootenai National Forest in Montana are putting mature and old-growth trees in imminent danger.1
Last year, President Biden ordered a first-ever inventory of America’s mature and old-growth forests on federal lands and directed federal agencies to then develop policies to protect them. But the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management have continued to allow timber companies to log older trees at an alarming rate.
Right now, logging projects are targeting more than 300,000 acres of mature and old-growth forests.2
We know that the longer a forest remains untouched by human development, the more that life can grow and thrive there.
But these old-growth forests aren’t just irreplaceable habitat for countless animal species (though they are). They’re also our best allies in the fight against climate change — allies we lose the minute we cut them down.
The older a tree is, the better it is at storing carbon. Nearly 70% of all carbon stored in trees is absorbed in the second half of their lives.3
We simply can’t afford to chop down our oldest trees. But if we don’t act quickly, we could soon hear the chainsaws and see our beloved forests reduced to stumps.
Donate to our 2023 Fiscal Year-End Drive to be a guardian for our oldest trees in the year ahead.
We won’t let these forests be chopped down. Here’s what we’re doing to keep trees standing for generations to come:
Environment Oregon and our national network have a long history of defending our forests. We helped deliver landmark protections for 60 million acres of roadless areas in national forests, and we helped restore these roadless protections to all 9.2 million acres of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest earlier this year.
Now, we’re sending a strong message to the Biden administration to let our oldest trees grow. And we’re just getting started. With your help, we can protect mature and old-growth forests in the year ahead.
Will you stand with us as we stand up for our oldest trees?
Thank you,
Celeste Meiffren-Swango 1. Ellen Montgomery, “Threatened Forests,” Environment America, May 19, 2023.
Your donation will be used to support all of our campaigns to protect the environment, from saving the bees and protecting public lands, to standing up for clean water and fighting climate change. None of our work would be possible without supporters like you.
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Backlogs of maintenance and routes littered with massive numbers of toppled trees have dramatically decreased trails available for exploring the Pasayten Wilderness in Washington.
Some horsemen say equally impenetrable barriers of bureaucracy are keeping the U.S. Forest Service from addressing the need for emergency use of chainsaws.
They say a one- or two-season blitz with restricted tools would help wilderness managers catch up to the ravages of wildfires.
Trails aren’t just becoming inaccessible, the horsemen say. They’re being lost, maybe forever.
…
“To support responsible deployment of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Sequestration (CCUS), the Forest Service is proposing an amendment to its regulations at 36 CFR 251.54 — Proposal and Application Requirements and Procedures to allow exclusive or perpetual right of use or occupancy (36 CFR 251.54(e)(1)(iv)) of National Forest System (NFS) lands for CCUS. This proposed rulemaking would amend initial screen criteria in existing regulations to allow for permanent carbon dioxide sequestration on NFS lands to support CCUS-related activities and will help meet the Administration’s priority of tackling the climate crisis.”
From an EnergyWire ($) article:
John Winn, a Forest Service spokesperson, emphasized in an email that the proposal “does not authorize the use” of carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) on Forest Service lands. It just opens the door to consideration; any storage proposals would still have to go through environmental review and public scoping.
Interesting reading from The Conversation: ” US national parks are crowded – and so are many national forests, wildlife refuges, battlefields and seashores.”
Excerpt:
While research shows that spending time outside is good for physical and mental health, long lines and gridlocked roads can make the experience a lot less fun. Crowding also makes it harder for park staff to protect wildlife and fragile lands and respond to emergencies. To manage the crowds, some parks are experimenting with timed-entry vehicle reservation systems and permits for popular trails.
I can offer one example: At the spectacular Multnomah Falls, in Oregon in the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, parking and traffic has been so bad in recent years that these days a “Timed Use Permit will be required daily from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m from May 26 through September 4, 2023.” Permits are only available via Recreation.gov — none are available on site.
My take: these permits are annoying and don’t fully solve the overcrowding problem, but the USFS had to do something.