The McKenzie Valley's Weekly Newspaper
Volume 33, Issue 1 - August 26, 2010
Chopper camp
still fighting fires
Helicopter crews that set up camp at the McKenzie Bridge Airstrip have been flying every day since lightning lit "smokes" began appearing after last Tuesday's thunderstorms.
MCKENZIE BRIDGE: Fire-fighters have responded to a 325-acre plus fire that is growing in the Mt. Washington wilderness on Tuesday. The Scott Mountain fire is located approximately 14 miles NE of McKenzie Bridge and west of Belknap Crater. Aircraft helping to fight the fire include retardant-dropping air tankers and numerous helicopters. Ground crews are also on-site.
U.S. Forest Service officials report the Scott Mountain fire was ignited by lightning during last week's storm and has been visible only intermittently since then. On Monday afternoon, hotter temperatures and dry winds resulted in rapid-fire growth. Embers from the fire have been carried by the wind towards the west; lava fields to the East border the fire.
More than 1,200 lightning strikes pummeled forestland in eastern Lane and Linn counties last Tuesday. Lightning-caused fires can simmer deep in the forest for days before rapidly growing large enough to detect.
Forestry officials urged recreationists and local residents to exercise extreme caution with fire Friday as efforts continued to find and put out fires from a swarm of lightning strikes earlier this week.
"We always urge the public to be cautious in using fire, but that is doubly important now, when the response to the lightning storms is stretching resources very thin," said Lena Tucker, district forester in the Oregon Department of Forestry's South Cascade District.
An emergency closure is in effect for the area bounded by Highway 126 on the west, Highway 242 on the south and the Deschutes/Linn County Line on the east.
The closure includes all roads east of Highway 126, many of which access trailheads into the Mt. Washington wilderness. The primary roads are: 2664 (Robinson Lake), 2657 (Olallie), 2653 (Boulder Creek), 2649 (Scott Creek), and 2647 (Cupola). Additionally, Scott Lake and Alder Springs campgrounds are closed and visitors have been required to leave. Trails 3508 Robinson Lake, 3513 (Hand Lake) and 3502 (Benson Lake) are also closed.
Highways 126 and 242, along with the Pacific Crest Trail, Belknap Crater trail, and Limberlost Campground are open.
For additional information on the Scott Mountain fire contact the McKenzie River Ranger District at 541-822-3381.
Cycles collide
on Hwy. 242
OLD MCKENZIE PASS: Two people were injured when motorcycles collided west of Proxy Falls on Sunday. The accident, in "S" curves near milepost 64.5 of Hwy. 242, occurred at about 5:30 p.m. According to Oregon State Police reports, Nathan Head, 27, of North Bend lost control of his '08 Kawasaki Ninja and crossed over into the oncoming lane. He crashed into a '97 Honda Valkyrie operated by Chad Andrews, 27. Injured in the incident and transported to the hospital were Head and Andrews' passenger Marissa Langan, 19, of Springfield. Police said no citations were issued for the accident, which closed the roadway for several hours.
Oregon's timber
harvest in 2009
hits historic lows
A struggling economy, reflected in weak housing and nonresidential construction, drove Oregon's 2009 timber harvest to historic lows. The harvest of 2.748 billion board feet is 20 percent lower than the already depressed 2008 harvest and the lowest since the Great Depression-level harvest of 2.622 billion board feet. Timber harvest information to-date for 2010 shows harvest levels slowly increasing, but a major recovery in harvests is not forecast until 2011 or beyond according to Oregon Department of Forestry economist Gary Lettman.
"Oregon's forest industry infrastructure, although much reduced in recent years, remains intact," said Lettman. "There have been numerous recent temporary mill shutdowns, but few mills are being permanently shuttered."
Most of the timber harvest decline was in western Oregon, which dropped from 3.079 billion board feet in 2008 to 2.403 billion board feet in 2009. Even though the eastern Oregon timber harvest volume has been decreasing every year since 2005, the decline in that area's harvest is slowing. Eastern Oregon's harvest volume had dropped 45 percent from 2004- 2008, but dropped only 5 percent from 2008-2009.
Douglas County jumped in front of Lane County as having the highest volume harvested during 2009, with 384 million board feet. Lane County, the top 2008 producer of timber volume, dropped 22 percent in 2009 to 338 million board feet.
In western Oregon, Yamhill was the only county that harvested more timber in 2009 than in 2008, with an increase in harvest of 581 thousand board feet.
Klamath County once again harvested the most timber in eastern Oregon, with a cut of 77 million board feet a 14 percent increase from 2008.
Most timber harvested in Oregon comes from forest industry landowners and those harvests declined significantly in 2009, with the change between 2008 and 2009 representing the largest change in timber harvest by ownership class. Cutting 2.583 billion board feet in 2008, the forest industry accounted for 75 percent of Oregon's total volume removed. In 2009, the forest industry's volume harvested decreased by 597 million board feet, a 23 percent drop to 1.986 billion board feet. Most of this decline occurred in western Oregon, where 2009 forest industry harvests decreased in every county. Forest industry timber harvests in eastern Oregon decreased by only 6 percent. The forest industry harvested more timber in 2009 than in 2008 in Klamath, Jefferson, Morrow, and Wasco counties.
"Even in a struggling timber economy, Oregon's Native American Tribes and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management were able to increase timber harvests in 2009," Lettman said. Tribal timber harvests increased 13 percent for 2009 to a total of 65 million board feet. The Bureau of Land Management increased harvest from 2008 by 26 percent to a total of 147 million board feet, making 2009 that agency's highest timber harvest since 1999.
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