Oregon

Old-Growth Forests and Oregon’s Healthy Ecosystems

Published

7 hours ago

September 12, 2024

Old-Growth Forests and Oregon’s Healthy Ecosystems

Oregon’s forests were once full of old-growth, but today, less than 10 percent of old-growth trees still stand, environmental advocacy group Oregon Wild estimates. Despite their essential role in ecosystems and years of controversy over their loss, these forests are often still targeted for logging.

The National Old-Growth Amendment, open for public comment until Sept. 20, would restrict commercial logging of old growth in every national forest across the country, but it wouldn’t affect old growth managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Chandra LeGue, a longtime old-growth advocate for Oregon Wild, says old growth is essential because trees store more carbon as they get older.

It takes 70 to 80 years of growth for a tree to start storing a level of carbon that’s beneficial to the environment. In the Pacific Northwest, trees are considered old growth if they are more than 150 years old, LeGue says.

“They have all this mass that is essentially carbon,” LeGue says. “It’s taken from gaseous form to wood form.”

The Northwest Forest Plan, which is currently being amended by the U.S. Forest Service, helps protect old growth in the Northwest, but there are no nationwide regulations in place.

The intended effects of the NOGA are to increase the amount and improve retention of old-growth forests, strengthen conditions that will help old growth adapt to changes in the climate, incorporate Indigenous knowledge in the management of old-growth and develop local management strategies, according to a report from the Forest Service.

The Forest Service and the BLM control 61 percent of Oregon’s forestland as public federal land, according to Oregon Forest Resources Institute, a forest products industry group.

National forests, which are managed by the Forest Service, make up 48 percent of Oregon’s total forestland. BLM manages the other significant portion of federally owned forests in Oregon.

The U.S. Forest Service is accepting comments from the public about its draft of the National Old-Growth Amendment until Sept. 20.

After the public comment period is over, the Forest Service, which manages 193 million acres of public national forests and grasslands across the county, will make adjustments and finalize the plan before 2025.

It is estimated to be implemented by Jan. 1, according to the Forest Service.

“What we need to do is look at our forest practices and logging practices, and start to line them up with the real science that has to do with climate,” says Patty Hine, president of climate action group 350 Eugene.

Hine goes out in Eugene twice a month to educate people about current climate issues.

On April 22, 2022, the Biden Administration issued an executive order requiring the Forest Service and other applicable organizations “to pursue science-based, sustainable forest and land management.”

The order urged them to conserve America’s federal-land mature and old-growth forests, support traditional Indigenous ecological knowledge and cultural and subsistence practices and respect Tribal treaty rights.

“In addition to just storing carbon, if you’ve ever walked down a shady street with trees on it, you know how much cooler it can be,” LeGue says.

Forests mitigate the temperature and cool the water within the forests that eventually come out of our tap, LeGue says.

The McKenzie River supplies Eugene with its drinking water, which originates at Clear Lake, about 85 miles northeast of Eugene, and travels through Willamette National Forest to reach Eugene.

The majority of Portland’s drinking water comes from rainfall in the Bull Run Watershed in Mount Hood National Forest, according to the city of Portland.

“Forests that have a healthy understory and rich, deep soils do a much better job of filtering water,” LeGue says. “Which can really impact municipal drinking watersheds.”

As climate change causes summers to get warmer and drought seasons to get longer, older forests will provide more water than younger ones, LeGue says.

Old-growth forests are more resilient to fire, so as climate change increases temperatures and the number of wildfires, old-growth is even more essential for ecosystems, she says.

A small percentage of timber comes from public lands, Sarah Bennett, BLM’s Oregon and Washington spokesperson says. “The vast majority of it is from private lands.”

Thirty-four percent of Oregon’s forests are privately owned.

The BLM manages 16 million acres of public land in Oregon and Washington, and 12 percent of Oregon’s forestland, but doesn’t manage national forests. The agency does its “very best” not to cut down trees that have a diameter larger than 36 inches and that originated before 1850, Bennett says.

In 2020, 14 percent of timber was harvested from federally owned forests, 76 percent of it came from private forestland and 10 percent came from state or county owned forestland, according to Oregon Forest Resources Institute.

Less than one percent of timber was harvested from Native American tribal forestland, which makes up only two percent of forestland in Oregon.

The NOGA won’t apply to land managed by the BLM because it doesn’t manage national forests, but to comply with the executive order it is creating policy for old-growth on a location-by-location basis, Bennett says.

Logging kills trees, preventing them from storing additional carbon and instead releasing carbon into the atmosphere, LeGue says.

“Letting the trees grow is really the best thing for the climate,” LeGue says.

Comments on the National Old-Growth Amendment can be submitted on the U.S. Forest Service’s NOGA project website under the “Get Connected” tab.

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Oregon

Oregon State sophomore Zachary Miller ties the school record with a 63 in Palouse Collegiate

Published

14 hours ago

September 12, 2024

Press Room

Oregon State sophomore Zachary Miller ties the school record with a 63 in Palouse Collegiate

Oregon State’s first tournament of the men’s golf 2024-25 season produced a tie for the lowest round in school history.

Sophomore Zachary Miller shot an 8-under 63 Wednesday at the Palouse Collegiate in Pullman, Washington. The only previous OSU players to shoot 63 are Alex Moore (2011) and Jonas Liebich (2016).

Moore and Liebech’s scores were 9-under. Miller’s 8-under mark ties for third-best in program history, with Tim Mickelson (2000) and Calum Hill (2016).

Miller had nine birdies and a bogey during his 63 at Palouse Ridge Golf Course, finishing in a tie for fifth at 11-under 202 for 54 holes. Miller, who played only one tournament last year as a freshman, was nowhere near the leaders heading into the final round, after shooting 67 and 72 the first two rounds.

With Miller leading the way, Oregon State shot a team record 28-under par 824, finishing third in the 15-team tournament.

–Nick Daschel can be reached at 360-607-4824, ndaschel@oregonian.com or @nickdaschel.

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Oregon

Centers split reps, receiver still absent: What we saw at Oregon football practice on Wednesday

Published

21 hours ago

September 11, 2024

Press Room

Centers split reps, receiver still absent: What we saw at Oregon football practice on Wednesday

EUGENE — The Oregon Ducks continue to practice with at least two centers taking first-team reps.

Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard each took snaps at center and guard Wednesday morning at the Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, same as Tuesday. The rest of the starting offensive line rotation was also unchanged from a day earlier, with Marcus Harper II at right guard, Matthew Bedford participating in the drill again and Nishad Strother at left guard, and some shuffling of personnel with the second and third groups.

Receiver Gary Bryant Jr. (leg) was absent for a second straight day while Evan Stewart, who did not participate during early periods of Tuesday’s practice, worked with the punt returners and showed no apparent issue on Wednesday.

The opening period of special teams included a drill for most of the skill players who aren’t on the return units and running back Noah Whittington was with that group instead of the kickoff returners.

No. 9 Oregon (2-0) at Oregon State (2-0)

When: Saturday, Sept. 14
Time: 12:30 p.m. PT
Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis
TV channel: Fox (KPTV 12 in Portland)
Stream: Fubo (free trial) or DirecTV Stream (free trial). If you already have a provider, you can also watch this game live on FOX Sports Live with your cable or satellite provider login information.

The offensive and defensive line pods during the second period were:

Right guard, tackle vs. defensive tackle, end: Marcus Harper II, Ajani Cornelius vs. Jamaree Caldwell, Jordan Burch | Matthew Bedford, Kawika Rogers vs. Derrick Harmon, Aydin Breland | JacQawn McRoy, Fox Crader vs. Breland, Caldwell | Austin Mims, Crader vs. Breland, Burch
left guard, center, right guard vs. defensive tackle, nose: Charlie Pickard, Iapani Laloulu, Gernorris Wilson vs. Terrance Green, Jericho Johnson | Laloulu, Pickard, Wilson vs. Green, Johnson | Holden Whipple, Kanen Rossi, Ty Delgado vs. Green | Whipple, Rossi, Delgado vs. Johnson
left tackle, guard vs. end, tackle: Josh Conerly Jr., Nishad Strother vs. Xadavien Sims, A’Mauri Washington | George Silva, Lipe Moala vs. A’Mauri Washington, Tionne Gray | Bailey Jaramillo, Trent Ferguson vs. Sims, Gray | Beau Cressallen, Devin Brooks vs. Sims, Gray

Other observations:

Kickoff returners were Jordan James, Jayden Limar, Jay Harris, Nikko Reed, Rodrick Pleasant and Da’Jaun Riggs
Punt returners: Tez Johnson, Ryan Pellum, Dillon Gresham and Evan Stewart
Limited: offensive lineman Dave Iuli (toe) was in cleats, cornerbacks Jahlil Florence (right knee) and Timon Davis (unspecified)
Absent/out: receiver Gary Bryant Jr. (leg), outside linebacker Ashton Porter (unspecified), defensive lineman My’Keil Gardner (right foot), cornerback Dakoda Fields (knee)

– James Crepea covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten. Listen to the Ducks Confidential podcast or subscribe to the Ducks Roundup newsletter.

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Oregon State Overpowers Aztecs, 21-0 – Oregon State University Athletics

Published

1 day ago

September 11, 2024

Press Room

Oregon State Overpowers Aztecs, 21-0 – Oregon State University Athletics

SAN DIEGO – The Oregon State defense held San Diego State in check – at just 179 yards – as they took the road opener by a 21-0 score on Saturday night in Snapdragon Stadium.

Clinging to a 7-0 lead after three quarters, the Beavers (2-0) tripled the lead with a pair of scores in the final frame to put away the Aztecs.

Jam Griffin opened the Beavers’ scoring on the day, dashing into the endzone from 16 yards out on the game’s first drive. Doubling the lead in the fourth quarter, Anthony Hankerson capped a 98-yard drive in the fourth with a 15-yard touchdown sprint. Gabarri Johnson sealed the win with a 21-yard touchdown toss to Bryce Caufield in the fourth’s late stages.

Gevani McCoy went 15-of-25 for 160 yards while Johnson was a perfect 2-for-2, threw for 23 yards and the lone touchdown pass. Griffin paced the rushing attack with 89 yards on 18 tries while Hankerson followed with 71 yards on 16 carries.

The Beaver defense held the Aztecs in control and yielded just seven first downs. SDSU’s seven first downs were among the lowest allowed by a Beaver defense in the last 24 seasons, the eighth time it’s happened since 2000. Aztec running backs were limited to just 72 yards, with just a long rush of 10.

A trio – Thomas Collins, Melvin Jordan IV and Jack Kane – led the Beaver defense with 4.0 stops each while another trio added three each as well. In addition to the stops, Kane forced a fumble and was one of four to register a pass breakup. When the Aztecs threatened to tie the game early in the fourth, Nikko Taylor scooped up a loose ball on the goal line to set up a 98-yard, 8:04 scoring drive.

The Beavers dominated in time of possession (41:07 to 18:53) and had nearly 30 more plays than their hosts, holding a 78-49 advantage.

Oregon State will return to Reser Stadium next week when the Rivalry Series resumes and the Beavers will host Oregon. The nationally-televised kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. and can be seen on Fox.

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