Lecture targets forest management practices

Dealing with fire in the forest is a hot topic in Sisters.

On Tuesday evening at The Belfry, Sisters Science Club hosted the last Frontiers in Science lecture series of the year: "Sustainable Forest Management Practices, or...Why is there Smoke in My Blue Sky?"

The 7 p.m. symposium was free to the public and every seat in The Belfry was taken.

John Bailey, associate professor of silviculture at the Oregon State University College of Forestry, began with a focus on fire history and fire ecology during the past century and how that affects the restoration treatment practices in our forests today.

"Fire is a natural and integral part of our forests in this part of the world, there was a lot of fire for centuries. Fire was all over the place, all of the time. Fire scars are undeniable evidence," said Bailey.

After 1900 though, fire suppression was the order of the day.

"There was a lot of natural historic fire in this area on a regular basis before the times of fire exclusion, and we are now paying the price. Climate change will only make it worse," Bailey said.

Bailey discussed the new research behind ways to manage Pacific Northwest forests.

"There is emerging scientific consensus that fuels management and restoration treatments in second growth, old clearcuts (also known as plantations) and other younger forests can be done in a manner that will reduce fire hazard as well as landscape-level fire risk, and which accelerates the development of old forest habitat. Such conditions reflect the evolutionary history and ecology of frequent low- and mixed-intensity fire in dry conifer forests and allow us to restore fire as a fundamental process in sustaining a resilient forested landscape in Central Oregon."

The Sisters Ranger District is in the planning stages to restore 25,000 acres on Green Ridge, north of Sisters. Will Brendeke, a silviculturist at Sisters Ranger District, discussed the forestry aspect of the Green Ridge Landscape Restoration Project.

"In the past 100 years, the forests of Green Ridge have been altered by timber harvest, livestock grazing, fire suppression, and fire exclusion," Brendeke said. "These activities have changed the patterns of vegetation, fuels, and disturbed regimes to the degree that the landscape can no longer function as it did historically. To restore structure and function of these dynamic, disturbance-prone forests we propose to conserve habitats and restore the ecological structure, composition, and processes of the eastside forests, including fire by thinning prescribed fire, road closures, weed prevention and other restoration activities."

Many folks were engaged in discussion directly following the lecture on how they felt about what Bailey and Brendeke had to say in relation to sustainable forest management in the Sisters area.

"The message for me by the Forest Service was that some level of forest fire is good for the overall health of the forest," said Sisters resident Doug Smith, owner of Central Oregon Timber Frame. "Man does not have the budget or physical resources to extinguish all fires in the forest. Therefore, we as the public users of forest lands need to understand and support a forest management approach that establishes a balance of effort to fight some fires and coexist with others."

Sisters High School teacher Jon Renner said, "I think it's really great that these foresters attend town meetings like this and try to explain some of the complicated issues that they face every day, especially in a community like ours that (is) so close to the forests. We have people living in the forest and it's important for people to know this information. And to have these guys come in here and have a question-and-answer period is terrific."