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Debbie Anderson of the United States Forest Service speaks at forestry tour in Diamond Lake, Wednesday.
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ENLARGE
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Don Morrison, a forester with the Umpqua National Forest speaks during a forestry tour at Diamond Lake, Wednesday.
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DIAMOND LAKE — A beetle infestation in the Umpqua National Forest’s alpine region could trigger a far-reaching wildfire in coming years, that much forest officials know. But no one is certain how to stem the outbreak before it explodes.
By next fall, forest officials hope to have thinning operations underway to keep mountain pine beetles in check and reduce fire loads surrounding Diamond and Lemolo lakes. The areas marked for timber management would provide buffer zones for summer getaways and popular recreation areas and make up 4 percent of the 300,000 acres susceptible to infestation and fire.
Pine beetles are part of the area’s natural ecosystem and thrive in older, large-diameter lodgepole pine. When stands become dense, at least 80 years old and 8 inches in diameter per tree, outbreaks occur.
Because of decades of applied fire suppression in the forest, stands around Diamond and Lemolo lakes — and also within Crater Lake National Park — have reached vulnerable dimensions. Trees can transform into stands of potential Roman candles not long after beetles move in.
On Wednesday, UNF officials guided a public tour of areas affected by the beetle outbreak and areas where they expect it to spread. In a previously thinned stand of lodgepole, south of Diamond Lake and north of the national park boundary, Gabe Dumm, a fire ecologist on the Umpqua forest, explained why the thick pines in the path of infestation and possible fire needed to be thinned.
By next fall, forest officials hope to have thinning operations underway to keep mountain pine beetles in check and reduce fire loads surrounding Diamond and Lemolo lakes. The areas marked for timber management would provide buffer zones for summer getaways and popular recreation areas and make up 4 percent of the 300,000 acres susceptible to infestation and fire.
Pine beetles are part of the area’s natural ecosystem and thrive in older, large-diameter lodgepole pine. When stands become dense, at least 80 years old and 8 inches in diameter per tree, outbreaks occur.
Because of decades of applied fire suppression in the forest, stands around Diamond and Lemolo lakes — and also within Crater Lake National Park — have reached vulnerable dimensions. Trees can transform into stands of potential Roman candles not long after beetles move in.
On Wednesday, UNF officials guided a public tour of areas affected by the beetle outbreak and areas where they expect it to spread. In a previously thinned stand of lodgepole, south of Diamond Lake and north of the national park boundary, Gabe Dumm, a fire ecologist on the Umpqua forest, explained why the thick pines in the path of infestation and possible fire needed to be thinned.
“You’re either going to have some or you’re going to have none,” Dumm said. “That’s the two realities we’re facing.”
Don Goheen, a forest entomologist, said beetle outbreaks can last for 10 years and kill as much as 90 percent of stands. They can also affect Ponderosa pine, mountain hemlock, white fir and red fir, other species in the Diamond Lake area, when high concentrations occur.
On the southeast shore of Diamond Lake, infected lodgepoles stand out among the canopy. The evergreens have become reddened with dead needles which increase the risk of a crown fire, the hardest for fire managers to control.
The Umpqua forest spent nearly $100,000 earlier this year to remove “hazard trees” from Diamond Lake Campground so weakened conifers wouldn’t topple on campers.
The U.S. Forest Service also hosted a workshop in Roseburg to solicit suggestions from the public that could be used in a proposed action for curbing the outbreak. Options include heavy thinning, which would leave about 40 trees per acre; seed-tree treatment, a more aggressive thinning approach that leaves only 15 percent of trees to naturally seed the next generation of trees; or no action at all.
Mechanized thinnings would be cut by feller bunchers. The machines are capable of sawing logs and carrying them to loading sites where they can be loaded up for transport to mills in Gilchrist, Medford and Roseburg.
Bob Ragon, executive director of the Douglas Timber Operators, said sales for timber that stands on flat ground would be more profitable.
Officials say timber harvests won’t stop beetles in their tracks, but will manage their effect on highly visited areas.
Thinnings can’t be prescribed on the thousands of acres of nearby roadless areas, the Mount Thielsen Wilderness area and Crater Lake National Park because of regulations that exist.
Forest officials won’t have that problem on timber-based lands and areas near homes and other structures.
Summer home owners at Diamond Lake anxiously await a proposed action to be made.
“We don’t want a Lake Tahoe,” where fires ravaged this summer, said a woman huddled with a group of homeowners against the cold wind and rain.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
Don Goheen, a forest entomologist, said beetle outbreaks can last for 10 years and kill as much as 90 percent of stands. They can also affect Ponderosa pine, mountain hemlock, white fir and red fir, other species in the Diamond Lake area, when high concentrations occur.
On the southeast shore of Diamond Lake, infected lodgepoles stand out among the canopy. The evergreens have become reddened with dead needles which increase the risk of a crown fire, the hardest for fire managers to control.
The Umpqua forest spent nearly $100,000 earlier this year to remove “hazard trees” from Diamond Lake Campground so weakened conifers wouldn’t topple on campers.
The U.S. Forest Service also hosted a workshop in Roseburg to solicit suggestions from the public that could be used in a proposed action for curbing the outbreak. Options include heavy thinning, which would leave about 40 trees per acre; seed-tree treatment, a more aggressive thinning approach that leaves only 15 percent of trees to naturally seed the next generation of trees; or no action at all.
Mechanized thinnings would be cut by feller bunchers. The machines are capable of sawing logs and carrying them to loading sites where they can be loaded up for transport to mills in Gilchrist, Medford and Roseburg.
Bob Ragon, executive director of the Douglas Timber Operators, said sales for timber that stands on flat ground would be more profitable.
Officials say timber harvests won’t stop beetles in their tracks, but will manage their effect on highly visited areas.
Thinnings can’t be prescribed on the thousands of acres of nearby roadless areas, the Mount Thielsen Wilderness area and Crater Lake National Park because of regulations that exist.
Forest officials won’t have that problem on timber-based lands and areas near homes and other structures.
Summer home owners at Diamond Lake anxiously await a proposed action to be made.
“We don’t want a Lake Tahoe,” where fires ravaged this summer, said a woman huddled with a group of homeowners against the cold wind and rain.
• You can reach reporter Adam Pearson at 957-4213 or by e-mail at apearson@newsreview.info.
