Forest Flash: Thankful for forests and those who help protect them
In Pacific Forest Trust’s e-newsletter, Forest Flash, we send you the most recent PFT news and updates on forests, clean water, climate, and wildlife, no more than once or twice a month. Subscribe here.
PFT on the road: talking forests and climate
At Pacific Forest Trust, we are thankful for the increasing awareness of the importance of forests as a key climate solution. PFT staff has had many opportunities this month to engage in the larger conversation about forests and climate all around the west coast.
PFT President Laurie Wayburn participated in a panel discussion this month at the California Wildfires conference held in Sacramento by Capitol Weekly. The panel, succinctly titled “Why?”, examined why there has been an explosion in destructive and deadly fires in the past five years, and asked what has exacerbated our vulnerability to wildfire and what we can do to reverse the trend. Watch the video:
PFT Co-CEO and co-founder Connie Best participated in the panel “Forests: Managing forests for climate and community benefits” at the Natural Climate Solutions Symposium this month in Sacramento, organized by The Nature Conservancy and UC Davis. A key point we underscored here (and in all of these venues) is the essential need for increased, sustained investment in forest restoration and conservation at the landscape level.
At the third annual Carbon Friendly Forestry conference held in Washington state, our Oregon Program Director, Kaola Swanson, participated on a panel on how to promote natural climate solutions. Kaola has also been active in the Oregon Governor’s Panel on Wildfire Prevention; this month, the panel provided its final recommendations to the Oregon Board of Forestry (find them here).
The Oregon Board of Forestry also announced that Oregon has become a signatory to the MOU between California, Washington, and British Columbia in which they pledged to work together to protect forests for their benefits to the climate. (Read the MOU here.) The MOU had its origins at PFT’s Global Climate Action Summit event last September; we are thankful that states (and Canada) are taking the lead on climate.
Help protect forests with your support for Pacific Forest Trust. This year, thanks to our generous sponsor VanEck, your gift will be amplified! VanEck has pledged to match all new and increased gifts up to $30,000—but only until midnight on December 31st. Thanks to those who have already helped make the match. Your support for Pacific Forest Trust helps protect forests for all of their benefits. Maximize your gift’s effectiveness: make the match today!
Study: Old growth protects fire resilience and biodiversity
According to a study published this year, old-growth forests provide valuable biodiversity refuge in areas threatened by severe fire events. Old-growth forests are not only critical nesting habitat for threatened northern spotted owls; they are also less likely to experience high-severity fire than young-growth forests during wildfires. The study, published in the journal Ecosphere, provides additional evidence to support PFT’s work encouraging landowners to manage forests to retain older trees. Given the effect of climate change on fire regimes, retaining old-growth forest can buffer the impact of fires while providing refuge for diverse and threatened species.
The study, which examined the impact of the Douglas Complex and Big Windy fires that burned in the Klamath-Siskiyou region of Oregon during July 2013, was a collaboration between researchers Damon Lesmeister and David Bell, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station; Stan Sovern and Matthew Gregory, Oregon State University; Raymond Davis, USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Region; and Jody Vogeler, Colorado State University. Find out more about the study and read the study here.
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