January 18, 2021 3:15 p.m.

Staff with the Oregon Department of Forestry is looking at post wildfire recovery around Oregon.

An ODF release said about 360,000 acres of private forestlands were among the million acres that burned in the state during the Labor Day fires. Over the next year or so, residents can expect to see trucks carrying scorched timber off private forestlands and bringing tree seedlings and planting crews onto them.

The release said assessments show the wind-driven fires burned unevenly across the landscape. Some stands were completely incinerated, leaving no merchantable wood. In other places, trunks were scorched but the trees still hold some value. Repairing access roads, falling hazard trees and replanting are expensive costs to landowners. The release said while post fire logging captures some timber value on burned lands, the majority of acres burned had not grown trees large enough to go to a mill or produce revenue for landowners.

Mark Kincaid, Vice President of Timber Resources for Lone Rock Timber said, “Now that the smoke has cleared, an urgent and robust recovery effort is needed to remove dead trees, which are fuel for future fires, and replant the future generation of forest”.

Mark Dudley is Vice President of Resources for the Swanson Group, based in Douglas County. The Archie Creek Fire burned 131,596 acres in the county. Dudley said time is of the essence when it comes to post-fire harvest and recovery. He said by harvesting quickly the company can maximize the value of the forest resource. Dudley said that also offsets the costs of reforestation efforts needed to restore the forests to “…healthy, thriving lands that protect soil and water quality”.

The release said because post-fire harvesting is fairly time-bound, ODF has been shifting stewardship foresters throughout the state to provide capacity to districts that are experiencing heavier workloads in the wake of the Labor Day wildfires, including an increase in notifications for post-fire harvesting. The release said reallocating and adding resources will help ensure state laws and rules on natural resource protections are being followed while providing landowners with timely approvals and assistance, if needed.