Forest and Timber

A non-native bug is damaging “white oak” trees around Oregon.  State Department of Forestry’s Christine Buhl said the oak lace bug has been here since 2015, but this year, things are looking especially bad.   “It is an aesthetic pest that can make oaks look pretty bad, and so that’s a concern for the typical homeowner, even though it’s not killing the trees. But, the larger concern is always that

The Washington state Department of Natural Resources announced this week it is expanding its wildfire response team across the state.  DNR will add 60 positions, including hand crews, heavy equipment operators and more.  Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz says these new positions, made possible by House Bill 1168, won’t be limited to a wildfire fighting role, they’ll also be trained to do f

The Oregon Department of Agriculture recently received the OK from the Emergency Board for $550,000 to fund additional Emerald Ash Borer response efforts.  The Board operates during the interim when the Legislature is not in session to consider and allocate agency requests for emergency funds.  The mon...

Much of the Northwest has seen some precipitation and cooler temperatures over that past week.  And become of that, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced that Fire Season officially comes to an end on Saturday.  ODF’s Jessica Prakke said despite predictions, the 2022 fire season turned out fairly tame.   "Our detection s...

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources has scheduled a prescribed burn for 200 acres of state land located outside of Naches.  DNR said that burn may start as soon as Thursday.  The burn will focus on 145 acres of state Department of Fish and Wildlife land and 55 acres of DNR property.  While the hope is...

Idaho Senators Jim Risch and Mike Crapo joined fellow Senate Republican, Steve Daines from Montana, asking the Administration to collaborate with states when it comes to Forest Management.  In Thursday’s letter sent to Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack, the lawmakers urged the development and implementation of a transparent and swift process to allocate funds promised to States for effective forest managem

Now that we’ve cleared the halfway point of our Northwest Farm Credit Services’ quarterly commodity snapshot series, we look at the local fishery, nursery and forestry industries.  Bill Perry, vice president at NWFCS, said they see fisheries being profitable over the next 12 months.   “Solid ...

While the fire season is not quite over, the Idaho Department of Lands is reporting a “drastic decrease” in the number of acres burned this year.  According to IDL leadership, it started last year when the Department went to state lawmakers, asking for: increased pay for firefighters, hazard pay, and more firefighters.  The boost in resour...

Senators John Thune and Ben Ray Luján recently introduced the Livestock Disaster Assistance Improvement Act.  The bipartisan legislation by the South Dakota Republican and New Mexico Democrat would improve the effectiveness and timeliness of multiple Department of Agriculture programs that assist farmers and ranchers in the aftermath of adverse weather events.  The legislatio...

The Washington Department of Natural Resources has a new web platform designed to help private forest landowners.  The Landowner Assistance Portal is a collaborative effort between the Forest Resilience and Forest Regulation divisions of DNR.  Many of...