forest management

Prescribed burns will take place on Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife-managed lands this month, as conditions become favorable.  WDFW is planning to treat nearly 500 acres with prescribed fire in the following areas by the end of the 2025 spring season:    Rustlers Gulch Unit, Sherman Creek Wildlife Area – Approximately 150 acres in Pend Oreille County, 20 miles north of Spokane Sherman

Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Thursday the selection of Idaho’s Tom Schultz to serve as the 21st chief of the Forest Service.  Upon being sworn in, Schultz will replace Chief Randy Moore, who recently announced his retirement after serving the agency for over four decades.   “Tom i...

Last week, the EXPLORE Act was signed into law by President Biden, including provisions of Southwest Washington’s Marie Gluesenkamp Perez as well as Idaho Representative Russ Fulcher’s bipartisan Treating Tribes and Counties as Good Neighbors Act.  The legis...

In a bipartisan vote last week, the House of Representatives passed the Fix Our Forests Act to restore forest health and increase resiliency to catastrophic wildfires.  Central Washington’s Dan Newhouse applauded the measure and said it’s an important first step in protecting the forest and fighting forest fires.   “Every summe...

Oregon will receive more than $9.4 million dollars from the USDA to address wildfire threats in three National Forest areas.  U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley said the allocation is needed to address the risk climate change poses to the state.   “...

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, and John Barrasso (R-WY), Ranking Member of the ENR Committee, introduced the Promoting Effective Forest Management Act of 2023. This bipartisan legislation would reduce catastrophic wildfire risk and improve forest health.

Pile burning, and the smoke it produces, could soon be a thing of the past in Oregon.  Via a pilot project, the Bureau of Land Management is testing the CharBoss Air Curtain Incinerator to burn the debris left behind from hazard tree logging efforts.   “It’ ...

Washington State University’s Forest Owners Winter School takes place this weekend.  Natalie Johnson with the state Department of Natural Resources, said the full day event is geared toward small forest landowners.   "It's everybody from very small forest land owners to moderate size," said Johnson.  "Our definition of...

The Washington state Department of Natural Resource will hold two free workshops next month for contractors interested in working on fuel reduction projects with private landowners.  And DNR noted, such projects may be eligible for DNR cost share funding.    ...

A delay in the state’s wildfire risk map may have put a portion of Senate Bill 762 on hold.  But another part of that legislation that looks to mitigate wildfires is enjoying some success.   SB762 set aside $20 million in grants for nonprofits, local governments, conservation districts, private landowners and federal partners to make their landscapes more resistant to wildfire.  Grant Coordinator