My Thoughts on managing our forests
by: Mark Jones
I have been asked many times on my position about protecting forests. Mostly by those who would like to leave the forests alone and let them become overgrown. I have mentioned to them that thinning those forest lands will keep them healthy and give them some defense against forest fire. An example of thinning the area to 100 trees per acre and burning off the forest litter, is something I share with them. This kind of forest management can and has protected many forests and made them thrive. The animals do well in this type of managed forests also, as it provides them with grasses and new plant growth that forest litter keeps from sprouting.
I have witnessed the Coconino National Forest in northern Arizona do this type of management tactics in an area Southeast of Flagstaff. During the thinning operation there were a lot of trucks and equipment moving about the area, but as soon as they were done it was amazing. The forest grasses and shrubs grew throughout the areas, giving the deer, antelope, and elk plenty of food. The trees didn’t have to fight for water anymore and they became healthier. When lightning struck a tree or two, the area of fire involvement stayed smaller and did not spread as fast. This gave the USFS and BLM firefighters a chance to get there and line the fire, stopping any further spread.
(Not to mention, thinning these forests helped the hunters by providing more open areas, fewer trees, and greater viability. It does also help the animals maneuver through the forest quicker to get away from the hunters, for those of you that don’t want animals to become dinner.)
In short, I support those wishing to preserve our forests as long as they include proper forest management tactics in their plan. Organizations wishing to purchase commercial forestland properties, like Pipe Fork out in Williams, should want to protect them from wildfires and help them remain healthy. I believe this is accomplished with the type of forest management I witnessed in Northern Arizona. I would like to see more of this here in southern Oregon.
Approximately 64% of Josephine County is Federal and State lands, and just about every summer we have forest fires burning up our natural resources. I truly believe that is our forests were properly managed, damage from wildfires would be minimized. We need to be better at preserving our beautiful mountain landscapes by thinning and maintaining them. This includes keeping the old logging roads clear and passable, they provide fire crew access and function as fire breaks as well.
I could go on and give you more benefits of proper management, provide more examples, and tie it in to how the Indians used to do it, but I’m trying to keep this short. One thing that is different today, that the Indians didn’t have to deal with, is that as we have logged areas over the years, we over-planted. Those new growth areas from past clear cuts are so thick that not only is the fire hazard higher, but our deer and elk migrations can’t maneuver through some of them. It’s time we make our forests healthy again, the animals will love it and so will you!