The University of Washington, College of the Environment’s Climate Impacts Group is developing regionally specific guides for small forest landowners that describe the most immediate climate impacts on forests and potential actions landowners can take to increase climate resilience. The group has completed a one for eastern Washington is in the works. The group hopes to do additional regions in the Northwest. Each guide takes into account the specific climate and ecology of the region.
These guides are geared toward small forest landowners in the Northwest, as well as organizations (nonprofits, conservation districts, local governments) that support these landowners in managing their forests.
July 15 was a mass timber historic milestone in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Standing 25 stories and a total of 284 feet, a tower built with mass timber is now officially the record holder for the largest mass timber structure in the world, surpassing Norway’s Mjøsa Tower by a scant four feet. It cost $80 million to construct and will provide Milwaukee’s East Town neighborhood with a total of 259 apartment units built in partnership with structural engineers Thornton Tomasetti.
2022 has already been an exciting year for the use of the highly sustainable material in architecture. Headliner projects in Oregon and Virginia have joined others in Europe and Canada on the growing list of mass timber designs that are slowly supplanting the use of more conventional (and often carbon-polluting) materials in the residential and office tower typologies.
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Wildland firefighters working on a vegetation fire can’t wear the conventional self-contained breathing apparatus used by structural firefighters. It is too bulky, heavy, and only lasts 10 to 30 minutes.
In an effort to provide less carcinogenic air to wildland firefighters, the Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate is developing a respirator capable of removing airborne hazards present in the wildland firefighting operating environment — the Wildland Firefighter Respirator (WFR).
The WFR was designed around a lightweight mask covering just the mouth and nose. It relies on filtration, designed to go a whole shift before needing to be changed. It uses an electric blower to force filtered air to the mask, relying on AA batteries for power.
The DHS says if wildland firefighters use respiratory protection, their careers could be significantly extended, leading to a more educated and experienced workforce capable of more efficient operations, with lower medical bills.
Evolving from the first inventory of U.S. forests in the 1870s, the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) program rigorously monitors the health and productivity of forests and the many benefits they provide. This atlas combines inventory and monitoring information from the 1870s to the present day with datasets prepared by other partners on wilderness, wildland fire, wildlife, and other issues to tell stories about the value of the nation’s forests and the challenges they face.
Thanks to new technology, much of the content in this atlas is derived from over 355,000 field plots, more than 19 million tree observations (some trees have been measured more than once to estimate growth), and two decades of satellite imagery that are transformed into rich and comprehensive information spanning the nation’s entire forested landscape.
This atlas introduces the reader to a trove of information also available online at the forest atlas website, https://forest-atlas.fs.fed.us.
Due to the extreme drought conditions and increasing risk of wildfire, Sierra
Pacific Industries (SPI) closed its California forestlands to public access. This closure
went into effect in July and will remain in effect until further notice.
“Despite some of the late spring rains, California is experiencing the driest conditions it has had in 1200 years,” said Andrea Howell, SPI spokesman.
The public’s use of SPI roads and walk-in access to the company’s privately-owned lands will not be allowed. SPI will regularly evaluate the situation; however, it is anticipated the closure will remain in effect into Fall 2022.
To learn more about the company’s recreation access policies, visit http://spi-ind.com/OurForests/RecreationAccess. For inquiries associated with the closure, contact the SPI California Public Recreation Hotline, 530-378-8274.
ON THE COVER
Plikat Logging
Your Only as Good as Your Horse and Crew
Nick Rodgers, a fourth-generation logger from Butte Falls, Oregon, started contract cutting right how of high school.
Focus on Yarders
First part on a two-part series about innovative yarder developments.
Treat ‘em Right and Work ‘em Hard
Plikat Logging provides logging services for private landowners in the Umpqua Valley. It currently employs 70 to 75 full-time, year-round workers.
Long-Term Stewardship Contracts and the Future Forest
New ways of addressing important issues often present unforeseen challenges as well as opportunities.
2022/23 Buyer’s Guide
Complete directory to products, manufacturers, distributors and services.
Guest Column
Who Are the True Conservationists?
DEPARTMENTS
