Photo by Ellen Miller

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Work needed to turn back dangerous fire trends, according to new OFRI report



July 30, 2014
For immediate release
Contact: Dave Kvamme – 971-673-2948

Work needed to turn back dangerous
fire trends, according to new OFRI report

PORTLAND, Ore. – The Oregon Forest Resources Institute is urging stronger action to turn back dangerous fire trends.
In a new report and video called “State of Fire,” the institute says that changing climate conditions, past forest management decisions and thousands more people choosing to live closer to the forest’s edge are intensifying and complicating fire risks and firefighting in Oregon.
As of July, wildfire on private and public forestland protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry had burned 36,888 acres – seven times the 10-year average. On the heels of 2013’s “epic” fire season, it’s more evidence supporting worrisome trends: higher number of acres burned, more severe fires, longer fire seasons and soaring costs.
"We’re facing another tough summer for firefighters and landowners," said Mike Cloughesy, OFRI’s director of forestry. “And while there is good work happening to reverse some of the trends, we need to do more, and we need to pick up the pace.”
“State of Fire” describes how fire's behavior historically differed in western and eastern parts of the state – and then compares that to current conditions. For example, fires in the drier forests east of the Cascades and in southwestern Oregon historically happened frequently, but were not severely destructive.
"'State of Fire' offers a fresh perspective on the worsening condition of fire-prone forests," said OFRI Executive Director Paul Barnum. “It points out practical realities and urges stronger action.” Specifically, the report recommends action on two fronts:
·       In the wet forests, because the threats to lives and property are so great, Oregon must ensure that firefighting capacity and technology is up to the task.
·       In the dry forests, millions of acres need restoration. Local collaboration and active management can restore forest to a more resilient condition. But more funding is needed to do more, faster.
“In the dry forests, we’ve largely lost the good, low-intensity, frequent fire,” said Stephen Fitzgerald, an Oregon State University professor who consulted on the project. "Unfortunately, one consequence of that is that we’re now at risk of more high-severity fire, which isn't characteristic of those forests."
OFRI worked with an array of state and federal fire-response agencies, as well as private landowners and nongovernmental agencies, to produce the 16-page illustrated publication and 12-minute video that make up “State of Fire.”
"This is a timely report on an important topic that every Oregonian should seek to understand. We hope it will push the conversation along, because we need to reverse recent trends,” Cloughesy said.
Both the publication and video are available at OregonForests.org.
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Oregon Forest Resources Institute: OFRI was created by the Oregon Legislature in 1991 to advance public and landowner education about the importance of forests, forest management and forest products. It is governed by a 13-member board and funded by a dedicated forest products harvest tax. To learn more about OFRI, please visit OregonForests.org

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Oregon Completes Controversial Sales Of State-Owned Coastal Forestlands

Oregon Completes Controversial Sales Of State-Owned Coastal Forestlands

June 12, 2014 | OPB
  • The controversy over the sales of forestlands to private timber companies centers on the marbled murrelet.credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • The controversy over the sales of forestlands to private timber companies centers on the marbled murrelet.credit: Sierra Club
The controversy over the sales of forestlands to private timber companies centers on the marbled murrelet. | credit: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | rollover image for more
The state of Oregon has completed the sales of three parcels of public forestland to private timber companies.
The finalized sales of 1,453 acres from a coastal state forest were announced Thursday by the Oregon Department of State Lands. The agency says it netted and about $4.2 million through the transaction.
A lack of revenues from the Elliott State Forest were cited as the main reason for the sale. The state’s Common School Fund relies on revenues generated from state-owned lands.
Conservation groups are seeking to block one of the Elliott sales in state court, and to prevent logging on the other two in federal court.
Cascadia Wildlands, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Audubon Society of Portland have filed a lawsuit to prevent the sale of the East Hakki Ridge parcel based on a state law that says lands formerly part of the national forest system cannot be sold to private owners. It was formerly within Siuslaw National Forest.
The same groups filed a notice of intent to sue to prevent the taking of federally protected seabirds called marbled murrelets on the other two parcels (Benson Ridge and Adams Ridge 1). The birds are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Cascadia Wildlands campaign director Josh Laughlin said the groups will wait until the timber companies harvest timber and then sue under the Endangered Species Act, given surveys confirming marbled murrelets in the forest.
“It’s critical that the laws are followed and upheld and the species is protected as outlined by the law,” Laughlin said.
He added that Oregon cancelled timber sales on the Elliott in 2012 when presented with similar evidence of the federally protected birds.
Julie Curtis with the Department of State Lands says the Endangered Species Act will still be observed on private lands.
“The companies that purchased the land are certainly well aware of what they need to do to comply with the law regarding the protection of endangered species,” Curtis said.
An additional 1,250 acres are expected to be sold off in the fall from the Elliott State Forest, which is in Southern Oregon’s Coast Range.
© 2014 OPB

Elliott State Forest Sale Closes Amid Controversy

Elliott State Forest Sale

Statesman Journal 
The Oregon Department of State Lands has completed the controversial sale of three parcels of Elliott State Forest totaling 1,453 acres to Seneca Jones Timber and Scott Timber Co.
The Wednesday sale fetched $4.2 million despite the promise from environmental groups to file a lawsuit to halt logging over the alleged existence of federally protected marbled murrelets in the parcels.
The East Hakki Ridge parcel was purchased by Seneca Jones Timber for $1.89 million, while Adams Ridge 1 was purchased by Scott Timber for $1.87 million. Benson Ridge was purchased for $787,000.
In December 2013, the State Land Board approved selling about 2,700 acres within the Elliott. Managing the Common School Fund land within this forest —which in recent years generated annual net revenues in the $8 million to $11 million range — cost the fund about $3 million in fiscal year 2013.
Losses are projected to continue in fiscal year 2014 and beyond, due to reduced timber harvest levels as a result of litigation over threatened and endangered species protection.
"The Land Board realizes the Common School Fund cannot continue to have a net deficit from managing these Trust lands," DSL director Mary Abrams said in a press release. "This first effort to sell three small parcels was to gauge interest in these properties, as well as determine the market value of land within the forest."
The sale, which will benefit the Common School Fund, represents less than two percent of the 93,000-acre forest near Reedsport.
Even so, the sales have become a flashpoint in the lingering dispute between environmentalists and timber companies.
"These parcels, which once belonged to all Oregonians, should never have been sold in the first place," said Noah Greenwald, endangered species director at the Center for Biological Diversity in Portland, in a press release announcing the notice to initiate a lawsuit. "Now that they've been sold, we're not going to allow them to be clear-cut and contribute to the extinction of the unique marbled murrelet."re

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Celebrate a learning opportunity at The Oregon Garden Rediscovery Forest

Celebrate a learning opportunity
at The Oregon Garden Rediscovery Forest

“Raise the Rafters” event is set for May 21
NEWS RELEASE

May 19, 2014
For immediate release
Contact: Dave Kvamme – 971-673-2948 / 503-706-1884
   Elizabeth Peters – 503-837-1802 / 503-250-2235

 PORTLAND, Ore. – In the spirit of a community barn-raising, The Oregon Garden Rediscovery Forest will raise the roof of its new Discovery Pavilion and celebrate the donors who are making it happen.
Jointly sponsored by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute and the Strategic Economic Development Corporation’s Construction Alliance, “Raise the Rafters” will happen from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 21 at The Oregon Garden in Silverton.
Members of SEDCOR’s Construction Alliance will work with teams of Silverton and Stayton high school students building the 1,300-square-foot, covered but open-air pavilion during the event. The structure is on schedule to be finished by fall. It will improve access for student field trips to the Rediscovery Forest, especially in the rainy months.
The Rediscovery Forest is a partnership of OFRI and The Oregon Garden. For the past 10 years, students, educators and forest landowners have visited to learn more about forests and the sustainable production of wood products in Oregon. In all, more than 1 million people have visited in the past decade.
“The donors deserve our heartfelt thanks,” says OFRI Executive Director Paul Barnum, “as do the companies who are investing sweat equity. The pavilion itself will be a showcase of Oregon wood products, and it will allow us to expand our work teaching Oregonians about their forests, all the benefits they provide, and how we manage and sustain them.”
Donors who have contributed $10,000 or more to the project so far are Seneca Sawmills ($20,000) and Cascade Timber Consulting, Northwest Farm Credit Services, Weyerhaeuser and Rich Duncan Construction ($10,000 each). The largest in-kind contributors are K & E Excavating and Withers Lumber.
For SEDCOR, the project underscores one of its key cluster industries: forestry and value-added wood products.
“This collaboration between our Construction Alliance and OFRI is about creating awareness within the next generation of workers that there is a wide array of good, sustainable jobs in both the construction and the forest and wood products sectors,” says Chad Freeman, SEDCOR president. “These young people will potentially be upcoming leaders of our mid-Willamette Valley companies; they’re critical to the economic health of our region.”
Northwest Natural is sponsoring the event.

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