Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, August 27, 2003
Study shows ODF annual report notes
thinning can 2002 timber harvests at
benefit trees highest volume in years
A new study by for-
estry researchers at Oregon
State University (OSU) has
found that old-growth pon-
derosa pine, even trees
more than 250 years old,
can increase their growth,
improve their health and
respond quickly to thin-
ning that provides the trees
with more water.
The research, just pub-
lished in the professional
journal Plant, Cell and En-
vironment, may have im-
portant implications for the
management of old old-
growth pine forests in the
western United States, sci-
entists said.
Millions of acres of
these forests are in very
poor condition, suffering
from a century of fire sup-
pression that has led to
vastly overcrowded condi-
tions, inadequate water and
nutrients, poor tree growth,
catastrophic fire and huge
epidemics of insects that
prey on the weakened
trees.
The new study, which
used a technical analysis of
carbon isotopes to gauge
tree water stress and pho-
tosynthesis before and af-
ter thinning, showed that
even trees which are hun-
dreds of years old can in-
crease their growth and
presumably their ability to
resist insect attack if they
are given a chance.
“Some people believe
that old-growth ponderosa
pine forests are decadent,
that they can’t really re-
spond to the aggressive
thinning that would restore
conditions similar to those
we had before fire was
excluded from these for-
ests,” said Stephen Fitzger-
ald, an OSU Extension
silviculture specialist and
expert on the types of pine
forests that dominate much
of the drier portions of the
American West.
“We found that simply
isn’t true,” Fitzgerald said.
“This research demon-
strates we can restore the
health and growth of these
forests, even with trees that
are hundreds of years old.
Most likely, we will need
to use a combination of
mechanical thinning and
controlled fire or other
techniques that are appro-
priate to the site.”
Such approaches have
gained some interest and
use in areas near the urban-
wildland interface in parts
of the West, the research-
ers said, but very little use
to date in vast areas of in-
terior old-growth forests
that are hugely crowded
and in very poor health.
This sets the stage for
uncharacteristically intense
stand-replacement fires or
insect attack, particularly
by mountain pine beetles,
that will eventually kill the
weakened old-growth
stands, Fitzgerald said.
Hi s t o r i c a l l y, fi re
moved through many dry
forest regions of the West
as often as every 10-15
years, the OSU scientists
said. In areas suitable for
ponderosa pine, this
“thinning by fire” resulted
in a park-like setting of 12-
35 huge ponderosa pine
trees per acre, with very
little underbrush or other
trees.
Trees 300-500 years
old thrived, with some
trees living up to 800
years.
These healthy ecosys-
tems supported a broad
range of other plant and
wildlife species that were
associated with these park-
like old-growth conditions.
Oregon’s timber harvests last year reached the highest
volume since 1997, according to a report issued by the
Oregon Dept. of Forestry.
The “2002 Annual Timber Harvest Report” shows that
the state’s harvest during 2002 rose to 3.91 billion board
feet (bbf), a 14 percent rise from the record low of 3.44 bbf
harvested during 2001.
The increase was not uniform across all forestland
ownerships, said Gary Lettman, a forest economist.
“Harvest levels on the 56 percent of Oregon’s forests
managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land
Management remained at extremely low levels,” he said,
“accounting for only 5 percent of the state’s timber harvest
volume.”
A 15 percent rise in harvest on Western Oregon’s for-
est industry land boosted overall timber harvest there by 14
percent from 2001 to 2002. Eastern Oregon harvests in-
creased by 11 percent.
The harvest increase of 340 million board feet (mbf)
on Western Oregon forest industry land accounted for 72
percent of Oregon’s total harvest increase last year. State-
wide, volume rose to nearly 3 bbf in 2002, its highest level
since 1989.
Clear-cutting on the state’s national forests continued
to decline, with a total of 80 acres clear-cut during 2003 on
the 12.8 million acres of forestland managed by the forest
service.
Lane and Douglas counties maintained their respective
number one and two rankings for timber harvest. Lane pro-
duced 470 mbf and Douglas 442 mbf. Klamath County
accounted for 207 mbf, the largest harvest among Eastern
Oregon counties.
All Western Oregon counties -- excluding Benton, Co-
lumbia, Multnomah, Polk and Washington -- removed a
larger volume of timber in 2002 than during the previous
year.
Softwood, predominately Douglas fir, comprised 96
percent of Oregon’s timber harvest, while red alder in
Western Oregon continued to account for most of the hard-
wood species harvested in the state.
Vending-machine toys pose
serious health hazards, says
DHS and public health officials
A Deschutes County child was recently hospitalized
with lead poisoning after swallowing a small medallion
necklace purchased from a toy-vending machine, accord-
ing to Dept. of Human Services (DHS) and Deschutes
County Health Dept. public health officials.
The child’s lead level was more than 10 times the level
of concern for children, and laboratory tests showed the
necklace contained 39 percent lead, said DHS epidemiolo-
gist Michael Heumann.
Such medallions pose several risks, he added.
Children can not only potentially swallow one of the
medallions, which presents both a lead and physical haz-
ard, but they can also be exposed to lead by handling the
medallion and then putting their hands in their mouths.
The medallion of concern is round, almost an inch in
diameter, grey in color, with a symbol on one side.
The necklace comes plastic containers from vending
machines that offer a mixed toy selection.
Photos of the medallion are available online at
www.healthoregon.org/lead/alerts.cfm.
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