Trail Talk – November 2023

The Douglas firs are dying. Numerous articles in a variety of publications have covered this phenomenon and, sadly, our local woodlands are no exception. Forecasts of 80% mortality of large firs in forests below 3000’ elevation in the next decade have been proposed, and one only need look at the yellowing needles on so many of our long-time friends to realize that this diagnosis is not far-fetched.

This is not what Trail Talk is supposed to be concerned with, yet here we are, using this platform to inform the public of the current reality in our woodland areas. For the hiking and biking public, besides the preponderance of dead and dying trees, we are going to see trail closures as contract crews work to reduce the fuel loads in our forests using science-based fuels reduction. This is not willy-nilly, cut as you please, but instead follows prescriptive treatment plans developed through the collaboration of a variety of agencies and stakeholders.

Anyone who’s been out and about on the forest trails around Jacksonville has seen this ongoing work. Yes, it’s inconvenient when trails must be closed, but for your safety and the integrity of the work being performed, respect those closures. And for Pete’s sake, don’t remove flagging from project areas; it creates confusion about boundaries and makes extra work for the folks doing the flagging in the first place.

The Jacksonville Community Wildfire Protection Project is a strategic, ecologically-minded collaboration led by Lomakatsi Restoration Project, to help reduce the threat of wildfire within and adjacent to specific areas of Jacksonville. Partners include City of Jacksonville/Jacksonville Fire Department, Jacksonville Woodlands Association, local FireWise communities, OSU Extension, and Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative. The project is located within the footprint of the greater West Bear All-Lands Restoration Project, which spans 27,000 acres of the wildland/urban interface west of Bear Creek from Talent to Jacksonville.

Together, partners have raised over $1.5 million to assist landowners and the City of Jacksonville in reducing wildfire risk through thinning and prescribed fire. Since work began in and around the city earlier this year, crews managed by Lomakatsi, have accomplished about 500 acres of thinning, with the cut slash stacked in piles to dry. This fall through next spring, Lomakatsi will manage burning these piles as weather conditions allow. Thinning will continue on an additional 440 acres of City and private land in the project area, including within the Jacksonville Woodlands in November—expect intermittent trail closures.

Additionally, a prescribed understory burn—where fire is carefully applied to ground fuels within containment lines—is planned on approximately 40 acres of Britt Woods. This burn is planned for October. Other burning may occur in Forest Park.

Partners thank the community for their understanding and tolerance of occasional chainsaw noise and smoke.