Private fire restoration seems to be successful

There’s a green spot in the swath of devastation caused by the B&B Complex Fire — and it’s on private land that bore the brunt of the scorching flames.

Reforestation on Lovegren Estate lands just south of Blue Lake burned by the 2003 fire is showing good results, according to Gary Lovegren, spokesman for the Lovegren family.

“After we salvaged the fire-killed timber in 2004, we planted 6,500 seedlings last year and we have seen 95 percent survival,” Lovegren said. “The young trees are showing new growth this year, so we know they have established their root system. Most seedlings were ponderosa pine with some tamarack mixed in.”

Some seeding of grass also was successful and natural seedlings have come in, he added.

However, this year’s planting during the hot spell in April was not as successful, he explained. Another 3,000 seedlings were being planted just as temperatures spiked. Lovegren estimates that he has lost about one third of this year’s trees.

In August 2003, lightning started two separate wildfires, one near Booth Lake in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness area and another on Bear Butte to the north. Dry fuels and strong, erratic winds caused the fires to spread rapidly in every direction, including towards Blue Lake and Suttle Lake. The fires eventually burned together, covering 90,769 acres before being contained on September 26.

The Lovegren Estate owns 117 acres in the Blue Lake area. Over the years, the family had done thinning of trees, built firebreaks, and constructed fire-safe homes — all the right steps to protecting their investment. However, the intensity of the B&B Complex Fire was overwhelming.

August 21 is the day that Lovegren remembers. As a fire captain with the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire Department, he was in charge of fire control actions at Blue Lake and the west end of Suttle Lake. Camp Caldera, Camp Davidson, and his own home were threatened. Quick action by firefighters saved all buildings, but almost all timber owned by the Lovegren Estate was destroyed.

“The first day that we were allowed back into our homes, our family gathered and made the decision to restore the lands,” Lovegren recalls. Lovegren sought advice from both the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and the U. S. Forest Service. ODF regulates forest practices on private land and offered advice on getting a cruise of the timber to learn the volume to be salvaged. They also explained how other forest resources could be protected. From the Forest Service, Lovegren received advice from their resource specialists.

After 300,000 board feet of timber was salvaged in 2004, the land looked bare with only 20 to 25 green trees that escaped the fire scattered over the hillside and snags left for wildlife habitat.

Soil conditions on the land created both good news and bad news. On the plus side, the cinder soil did not pose any erosion problems during salvage logging. However, the soil is quick to lose moisture and provides few nutrients for growing commercial timber. The trees grow slowly with a strong taper from base to top.

The ultimate goal of reforestation is to recreate the forest destroyed in the blaze. Eventually, all of the species found here originally, including ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, white fir, and some tamarack, will be replanted, plus white pine and lodgepole pine.

The Lovegren family purchased this land in 1960 and ran it as a summer resort until 1975 when they added winter sports and made it a year-round resort. In 1995, they sold 87 acres, keeping 117 acres. Despite the fire damage, the family will still follow their long-range plan to develop five-acre homesites for family members, keeping 40 acres as managed forestland.

Even though the land is not high quality commercial forestland, the family is well underway to restoring the beauty of the area, if not for them, for future generations.