By Tim Holt Special to the Record Searchlight

Redding.com

• Posted May 11, 2013 at 6 p.m.

In 2002, under unusually dry conditions, a forest fire swept through an experimental forest maintained by the Forest Service just north of Lassen National Park. Researchers had created a variety of forest environments at this Blacks Mountain Experimental Forest over the years, with young trees mixed in with old growth, and varying densities of undergrowth.

The unexpected fire provided a real-world test for forest fire suppression treatments already put in place at the 10,000-acre experimental forest. These forest floor “treatments” included removal of tinder-box debris like leaves and pine needles, and removal of brush and smaller trees. Now, with an actual fire, researchers had documentation, facts and figures, on the effectiveness of these techniques, how much they’d slowed the spread of the fire to help firefighters contain it, limited the intensity of the fire and the acreage it covered. Only 2,000 acres out of 10,000 were scorched, and the researchers estimated that without the use of their fire suppression techniques a total of 8,000 acres would have burned.

MORE:

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/may/11/forest-researcher-looks-to-past-to-show-how-to/?partner=newsletter_headlines

Evergreen Magazine.com

By: Jim Petersen

Andy Kerr is an unending source of amazement for me.

We’ve never been formally introduced, but I have long admired his mastery of six-second sound bites – pithy little phrases that you can never forget, no matter how hard you try.

The smoke had not yet cleared from the month-long 1987 Silver Fire when Andy announced from on high that “Not one black stick” of timber would be harvested because salvaging fire killed timber was “like mugging a burn victim.”

Actually, it’s more like denying a skin graft to a burn victim. But never mind.

My recollection is that about half the volume of timber lost in the 200,000 acre conflagration was eventually salvaged, but not without a political deal struck by the late Mark Hatfield, Oregon’s senior U.S. Senator at the time.

What I’ve always found so interesting about Andy’s often outrageous one-liners is that they rarely contain a shred of truth. But the press has always loved quoting him. I have no idea if they take him seriously, but I can tell you that the bigger the tale he tells, the more widely he is quoted. I think he knows this because he’s always trying to outdo himself. He obviously loves the sound of his own voice.

But now and then, Andy says things that are so morally and ethically repugnant that someone needs to take him to the woodshed. That someone would be me.

Last Wednesday, May 1, the Grants Pass Daily Courier, published an essay Andy wrote titled “Sawmills must adapt to stay relevant.” I don’t know if the headline was his doing or if someone on the Courier’s news desk wrote it, but it hardly matters. What matters is that Andy’s casual acquaintance with the truth be exposed for – shall we say – its shortcomings.

Kerr’s column is a response to the tragic closure of Rough and Ready Lumber Company at Cave Junction, about 30 miles southwest of Grants Pass. His tone was so over the top – and inappropriate – that I could not help but wonder what he was trying to hide. Andy always has something to hide. Has he been playing with matches? In a manner of speaking, yes – for years.

The Krauss family’s sudden decision to button up its 91-year-old operation is an enormous shock to Josephine County’s once robust timber economy. Eighty-five families will lose their paychecks. We can only wonder how they are doing and how they are preparing for face their uncertain futures. When I moved to Grants Pass in 1970, there were a dozen lumber and plywood lumber mills in the area. Now there are none in a county that is more than 80 percent timbered. What happened? I’ll explain.

Rough and Ready Lumber was a poster child for western Oregon’s post-World War II sawmilling industry. It provided steady employment for four generations of Illinois Valley families. Grandfathers, fathers, sons, uncles and cousins worked there, often at the same time. If memory serves me correctly the mill operated continuously, even during the Great Depression. That it survived and prospered for so long bears witness to a family that put community first and its own financial interests second.

I knew the second Krauss generation very well. Lew, Fred and John were the sons of Rough and Ready’s co-founder Lew Krauss, Sr. Only John – the youngest of the brothers – survives. Lew and Fred both died several years ago. Lew’s daughter, Jennifer, and her husband, Link Phillippi, have been running the iconic company for at least 10 years. I rarely see them, but I have watched them from afar and know how heartbreaking the decision to throw in the towel must have been.

My roots in the sawmilling industry go back more than 100 years. In my lifetime, I’ve known maybe a hundred sawmill owners. Not one of them had an ounce of quit in him. Although many of them were friends who did business with one another on a handshake, they were also fierce competitors. To the depths of their souls, they all believed theirs would be the last sawmill on earth. If you do not have blind faith in your own ability to survive in the unforgiving world of sawmilling, you have no damned business owning a saw mill. Trust me: it is one of the riskiest businesses on earth. And yet my lumbermen friends who made it big have always been quick to remind me that the secret to their success rested not in blindly accepting risk but in learning how to manage it.

You can put the Krauss family near the top of sawmilling’s success column. They were always quieter than many of their rivals, but only a damned fool would have ever underestimated the Krauss brothers resolve. Where business was concerned, they had the hearts of lions – and ice-water ran in their veins.

Like their western Oregon peers, Rough and Ready’s growth was driven by three factors: the post-war homebuilding boom, technological advancements in log sawing and a generous supply of federal timber. Only a handful of deep-pocketed lumbermen owned their own timber in western Oregon. Most bought their logs from the Forest Service or the Bureau of Land Management. Credit the Truman Administration for recognizing that the West’s vast and untapped federal forests represented a peacetime economic dividend of unprecedented size and potential.

Read more:

 http://evergreenmagazine.com/web/Rough_and_Ready_The_Hearts_of_Lions.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Evergreen+Foundation+Rough++Ready+The+Hearts+of+Lions&utm_content=Evergreen+Foundation+Rough++Ready+The+Hearts+of+Lions+CID_7bde56ddd513c9fb980e446e39878eef&utm_source=Campagin%20Manager&utm_term=Rough%20%20Ready%20The%20Hearts%20of%20Lions

According to experts we are currently trending 2 months ahead of normal season of curing of fuels and other large fire development parameters.

Here’s a few links to products that reveal where we are headed this summer. ERC’s currently running well above maximums for northern CA.

http://gacc.nifc.gov/oncc/predictive/outlooks/Seasonal%20Outlook.pdf

http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/outlooks/month2_outlook.png

http://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/outlooks/extended_outlook.png

Ray A. Haupt

CA. Consulting Forester

‘Suspects’ put graffiti on piece of equipment, contaminate fuel

May 02, 2013

By Sam Wheeler

for the Mail Tribune

ASHLAND — A log loader being used for thinning operations in the Ashland Creek watershed was marked with graffiti and its fuel deliberately contaminated last weekend, authorities said.

Crew members discovered the graffiti Monday morning and operated the loader for about an hour before it sputtered to a standstill, postponing work for the day, said Ashland Fire & Rescue Forestry Division Chief Chris Chambers.

“Sometime between 6:30 Friday night, when the crew left the location, and 4 a.m. on Monday is when the vandalism happened,” Jackson County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Andrea Carlson said.

“The suspects wrote some graffiti on the log loader and also dumped some fluid into the fuel tank to make the log loader inoperable.”

A mechanic who was called to the job site to repair the equipment said the loader’s fuel likely was contaminated with water, Chambers said. After replacing filters and removing the contaminated fuel, the equipment worked properly, he said.

Carlson said the phrase “kill cops not trees,” was written on the side of the loader, which is owned by Columbia Helicopters.

“Dab squad” and a series of abstract symbols also were scrawled in permanent marker on the side of the loader, Chambers said.

An investigation into the incident is being led by the Sheriff’s Department, Carlson said.

“Unfortunately, the crew on the scene there have never had any trouble in that area and they don’t have any suspect information,” she said. “We’re looking into it the best we can, seeing if we can track anything down. At this point there is not a whole lot of information to go off of.”

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Sheriff’s Department at 541-774-6800.

Chambers did not have a dollar estimate for the damage caused by the vandalism.

“That whole day was lost for production, and we’re trying really hard right now to get this wrapped up and get those trails opened up,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that it happened … this is the first incident we’ve had on the project.”

The last incident of equipment vandalism in the watershed was in May 2012, when a vandal slashed more than 1,000 feet of hose crews were using on a prescribed burn on city of Ashland forestland.

Without the setback, Chambers said, the watershed’s popular trail system, most of which has been closed since helicopter thinning began in March, could have been opened on Wednesday.

Now, trails including Upper Alice in Wonderland, Caterpillar, Jabberwocky, Toothpick, Marty’s, Catwalk, Eastview and the four corners area are scheduled to be opened on Friday, Chambers said. The White Rabbit Trailhead will remain closed until early next week while the area is cleaned and trails rehabilitated, he said.

After thinning work on the project concludes, crews will begin the monthslong process of cleaning up slash and debris left behind during the helicopter thinning effort, Chambers said.

The thinning was part of the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project, a multi-year effort to thin 7,600 acres in the forested watershed above town to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires. The project is a partnership among the Forest Service, the city, Lomakatsi and The Nature Conservancy.

Sam Wheeler is a freelance writer living in Talent. Email him at samuelcwheeler@gmail.com.

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130502/NEWS/305020315/1001/NEWS03

http://www.healthyforests.org/western_governors_private_sector_should_be_utilized_to_improve_federal_forest_management

Western Governors: private sector should be utilized to improve federal forest management

Posted by Nick Smith 5pc on April 26, 2013

The Western Governors’ Association delivered a letter (attached) to Secretary of Agriculture Thomas J. Vilsack last week requesting increased attention on environmentally stressed national forest land and inclusion of the private sector in efforts to reduce epidemics such as pine beetle infestations and wildfires. The letter:

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

We have been concerned for some time that federal forest lands throughout the West are experiencing serious environmental stresses that affect the health and vitality of these ecosystems. They are overgrown; they exhibit all the symptoms of an unhealthy ecosystem; and they demand urgent attention. Now is the time for the U.S. Forest Service to accelerate its efforts to promote sound forest management policies that maintain ecological balance.

As you know, millions of acres in states throughout the West have fallen victim to bark beetles and other insect and disease plights. These epidemics, an overgrowth of vegetation, and the persistent drought have increased the number and complexity of wildfires, leading to exponentially higher suppression costs. The workload and costs to restore these forests and reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfires is staggering and necessitates an immediate commitment of financial and other resources. Western Governors have passed numerous policies acknowledging the extent and severity of our forest health crisis. We have met with you and your staff on many occasions and shared our concerns, yet we remain dissatisfied with the pace of response.

It is our understanding that in 2010 only about 30 percent of the total U.S. Forest Service budget was allocated to manage our national forests. In the mid-1980s, that number was closer to 70 percent. Most of the agency’s budget is spent on fire suppression, administrative support, research, and other programs. The current approach to resource allocation results in fewer funds available to manage the more than 193 million acres of national forests for forest health and fuels reduction. To that end, we request a specific accounting of the areas in which these funds have been spent. We further request that the U.S. Forest Service work to put the private sector to work on vegetative management activities on National Forest lands throughout the West.

We support the goals of the U.S. Forest Service’s Restoration Strategy, which will increase restoration acres while utilizing the wood produced by these efforts. Achieving the goals of this strategy will require developing and implementing new, more efficient ways of doing business and forest products industries are an integral part of this effort. We request that the U.S. Forest Service provide state-by-state specifics on how many additional acres it plans to treat through the Restoration Strategy over the next five years, including how much biomass, board feet, and other forest health and restoration projects are envisioned. We would also like to work with you to convene a forest industry task group to identify ways that the timber industry can assist with forest management. Private sector forest professionals are a cost-effective tool that the U.S. Forest Service can utilize to handle this immense workload. They stand ready and willing to do so.

By improving forest management through the use of the private sector, we also help support our declining forest industry and suffering rural economies. Our forest industries are already faced with low margins and limited markets; if we lose these industries, any restoration efforts will suffer a significant blow. As Governors, we support the type of proactive forest management that leads to healthy rural communities, improved forest conditions and increased utilization of wood products as outlined in the U.S. Forest Service Restoration Strategy. In addition, we are committed to successful implementation of the Western Regional Action Plan – National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy. We support efforts to fully utilize existing mechanisms and provide additional authorities to the U.S. Forest Service, including Stewardship End-Result Contracting, grants, agreements, local labor force, opportunities to increase biomass utilization, and Good Neighbor policies.

With continued uncertainty due to sequestration and the potential for further federal budget cuts, we recognize the financial challenges involved in such an endeavor, but believe that engaging the forest products industry as a partner can help alleviate some of these challenges. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Gary R. Herbert, Governor, State of Utah, Chairman, WGA

John Hickenlooper, State of Colorado, Vice-Chairman, WGA

To arrange interviews and learn additional information, contact Joe Rassenfoss, Communications Director of the Western Governors’ Association, at 720-897-4555.

Husband, father and logger from Cave Junction Arron O’ Grady was injured Friday near Galice on a Josephine County timber sale.    Prompt actions by the woods crew, Rural Metro Fire and ambulance. Josephine County Sheriff,  and Mercy Flights provided stabilized arrival at RVMC.  Arron tolerated skull trauma surgery Friday evening.  Sunday morning his wife has reported that though in a medical induced coma, he is moving his arms and legs.

He Reigns – Newsboys – YouTube

Mark Johnson
Timber Faller
Grants Pass, OR

PNP comment: We need a lot more than just thinning. There must also be a steady supply of timber to the mills and infrastructure. And we know that the trees are thickly dense — up to 800 times more trees per actre than is “natural” or “normal”. But at least this is a good start in getting past the politics and biases that are destroying the Forests. – Editor Liz Bowen

• By Damon Arthur

Redding.com

http://www.redding.com/news/2013/apr/27/state-hopes-to-spur-forest-thinning/?partner=newsletter_headlines

• Posted April 27, 2013

A fire that started along Hayfork Creek on Sept. 5 quickly picked up speed, jumped a creek and raced up the side of a steep canyon. The Stafford Fire eventually burned 4,400 acres last fall, moving into the outskirts of the southern Trinity County community of Hayfork before fighters stopped the blaze.

A few months later, Randi Paris, a supervisory forester for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, looked at the side of a mountain devoid of green and covered with trees charred black. A few sported tufts of brown pine needles at the end of their branches, but on most trees, even those were burned off.

by Justin Bourke

    KRDV.com Newswatch Channel 12Published April 26, 2013

http://www.kdrv.com/man-injured-in-logging-accident/

GALICE, Ore. — A man has been hospitalized after rescue crews said he received a serious injury in a logging accident.

Rural/Metro Fire said in a press release that crews received initial information that a male in his 20’s had been hit by a log in the back of the head and was unconscious 300 to 400 feet down the side of the mountain. Rural/Metro Fire said the incident occurred 10 miles up Hog Creek Rd in Galice at around noon on Friday.

When Rural/Metro arrived on scene, they said the logging crew had managed to work together and pull the victim up to the landing area where they were operating. The patient was in critical condition with life threatening injuries and needed to get to a trauma center immediately, so a Mercy Flights helicopter was called in.

The victim was flown to Rogue Regional Medical Center in Medford. His condition at this time is unknown.

Apr 17, 2013

Written by

Michael Rose

Statesman Journal

Rough & Ready Lumber told employees today that its 90-year-old lumber mill in Cave Junction would permanently close.

The shutdown will cost the Southern Oregon community 85 jobs, Rough & Ready officials said. The sawmill closed today and the company’s kiln and shipping operations are expected to end by late May.

“We deeply regret having to close the family lumber business that my grandparents founded in 1922,” said Jennifer Phillippi, chief executive officer and co-owner of Rough & Ready.

Rough & Ready produced high-quality wood products used in doors, windows and exposed beams. The company had considered a $2 million sawmill upgrade, but couldn’t overcome problems with obtaining a sufficient supply of logs, company officials said.

Once a thriving wood products region, Josephine and Jackson counties had 22 sawmills in the mid-1970s. Rough & Ready was among the last sawmills operating in the region.

Rough & Ready will provide mill employees with severance pay based on years of  service and assistance in finding new jobs, officials said.

http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20130417/UPDATE/130417003/Rough-Ready-Lumber-closes-its-Cave-Junction-mill

    Press Democrat.com

By SEAN SCULY THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 4:50 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, April 21, 2013 at 4:50 p.m.

A Mendocino County timber company is promising to improve conservation measures on 332 square miles of redwood forest in return for an 80-year federal and state permit to disturb the habitat of up to 42 endangered and threatened plants and animals as part of its timber harvesting operations.