How bad is deforestation in Oregon?

[tom jones151]

I live in Vernonia a timber town in Oregon.I would say there is about 1 to 5% of old growth trees left in Oregon.The rest have been cut and most replanted.The only thing is?They plant mostly one kind of tree(Doug fir)And it has made a great forest into a tree farm.Studys have shown over and over again and again when you take out the different kinds of trees and plant just one kind back.Lots of animals and other living things go away also!They just cant live in that kind of tree farm!There is also studys that show the forest is growing slower now,because when they clear cut and then replant they spay all the hard woods to kill them off.Lots of those tress fix N into the soil and they are gone now.What will happen over 500 years?I guess my great great great grandchildern will see....SHAM ON US!

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by tom jones151

I live in Vernonia a timber town in Oregon.I would say there is about 1 to 5% of old growth trees left in Oregon.The rest have been cut and most replanted.The only thing is?They plant mostly one kind of tree(Doug fir)And it has made a great forest into a tree farm.Studys have shown over and over again and again when you take out the different kinds of trees and plant just one kind back.Lots of animals and other living things go away also!They just cant live in that kind of tree farm!There is also studys that show the forest is growing slower now,because when they clear cut and then replant they spay all the hard woods to kill them off.Lots of those tress fix N into the soil and they are gone now.What will happen over 500 years?I guess my great great great grandchildern will see....SHAM ON US!

Amen, brother.

[pdxMIKEpdx]

In my humble opinion, there are a few posters in this thread that seem to have an excellent grasp on the conditions of the timber industry in this state. But they are the ones that seem to be the most ticked off and have the least popular opinions. Yet they speak the truth for the most part.

I come from a long line of loggers, and let me tell you, things have sure changed in the last twenty years.
My grandparents helped replant the Tillamook burn, and in their eyes, it was an investment as far as sustainable timber crops and jobs for the future. Like planting corn. Boy. How things have changed.
The whole Tillamook Burn area seems to have turned into a sacred "hands off" area for some reason.

Look up the history of that famous fire and you will be amazed how many acres and acres were replanted.
Absolutely none of the forest you see on the drive to the coast, whether it be highway 6 or 26 is old growth.
If it is, it was a pocket that the fire missed, or the loggers of the 1900's skipped for some reason.
Now that I've used that popular buzzword (sustainable), people have to realize that other than wilderness areas, most of the forest you see in the state has been harvested and replanted at least once.

Timber used to be king in this part of the world, not in ancient times, but in as little as twenty years ago. I think it would be a suprise to most recently transplanted folks to find out how much of the private forest land is actually owned by lumber companies like Weyerhauser or Georgia Pacific.

I know this is going to cheese off the nature lovers and treehuggers, but I see nothing wrong with managing Oregon's forests (not all) for timber production rather than imposing so many restrictions that the flora just becomes fuel for fires. Forestry and harvest practices and techniques have come a long way since the times of the timber barons, but most people don't seem to realize that.

It's one thing to sit in your nice living room in trendy Portland, all dry and warm and ignorantly righteous, bemoaning the supposed disasterous ecological state of Oregon without having a clue about what you are talking about, versus actually being out there in the forest and having a realistic understanding of the way things really are and how they should be.
Trees aren't Ents, and deer aren't Bambi.

I think when people think of timbermen, they get a picture in their mind's eye of ruthless land rapers that look and act as if they were a cross between Snidely Whiplash and Paul Bunyan, yet the exact opposite is true. Folks that make their living in the forests are some of the most forward thinking and conscientious (sp) land stewards that I've met.
The same can be said of hunters and fisherman.

I think that the most improvement can be made by increasing stream buffer areas, and increasing the amount of trees that must be left on the cut (in case you ever wondered why you will see a clear cut and see one or two lone trees left standing--that is the reason).

Another fascinating and very contraversial facet of Oregon life!

[Nell Plotts]

pdxMIKEpdx is spot on.

My grandfather had a sawmill on the coast before I was born and it was my generation that re-planted the Tillamook burn. As a child I would hide under a blanket in the back seat when my parents drove to the beach because the sight of the burned snags was painful. To spend the day tree planting was a break from a day in class and helped heal not only the forest but the feeling of loss.

A forest needs to be thinned to avoid very hot fires, and yes a mono-culture forest has risks BUT when the area available to grow trees for harvest is severely limited the industry needs to maximize their land by planting species they can use.

[hamellr]

Ditto, Family is loggers. Here is a picture of a piece of land that has been clear cut three times.



My Grandfather helped cut it in the 1960's, and has lived in the valley below it ever since then.

The mid 80's and the scare over that Owl really changed how forest conservation works in Oregon. Now days you drive around you'll see signs saying when the forest was harvested, replanted, re-harvested, and re-replanted again.