Old-Growth Restoration

According to a 2024 USDA and USDI  Report, "Mature and Old-Growth Forests: Analysis of Threats on Lands Managed by the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management," from 2000 through 2023 about 9,000 acres of US old-growth were logged; more than 180,000 acres were lost to bugs and disease; and 700,000 acres of old-growth were lost to wildfire. 

That is, more than 20 times more old-growth were lost to insects and diseases than by logging; and more than 75 times more old-growth were lost to wildfire than to logging; or, in the previous 24 year period, 78% of nearly 890,000 acres of public old-growth trees were lost to wildfire; about 21% were lost due to insects and disease, and only about 1% was logged.

These numbers depend, of course, on the government's definition of "old-growth," which is based on tree species, age, and physical locations. It originally was a "logger's term," and in the Douglas Fir Region of northern California, and western Oregon and Washington it originally meant trees that had acquired a massive size and deeply furrowed bark -- typically 350 years or more in age. 

In time, general consensus seemed to arrive at a minimum figure of 200 years of age for Douglas fir, but maybe less for fast-growing spruce, and maybe more for slow-growing cedar and oak. Other trees, such as hemlock or alder, rarely reached such a condition. 

Most of the historical old-growth in western Lane County was lost to wildfires before 1900, and most in east Lane County was logged or burned before 1990 and mostly lost to wildfire since then. The logged trees were typically transformed into homes, furniture, and other useful products, whereas the fire-killed trees have typically burned one or more times since. 

These older trees had lived in stands and groves in predictable locations, separated by vast oak savannas, beargrass and peavine ridges, berry fields, and riparian meadows. They were most commonly found in steep, isolated canyons, on northern slopes, and scattered as single trees or small groves in more open areas.

A good argument can be made, supported with documentation, that public efforts to "save the old-growth" from logging the past 40 years have resulted in far greater loss of trees from wildfire than could have ever been logged. In any instance, there are far fewer old-growth today than at any point in the past 150 years.

These remaining trees have become increasingly susceptible to deadly crown fires in recent decades due to the build-up of ladder fuels; the encroachment of  competitive second-growth trees for light, water, and nutrients; the forestation of formerly open ridgelines, meadows, fields, and riparian areas; and the great and increasing proliferation of air-dried, pitch-filled snags left standing from earlier fires.

This can be fixed. The remaining old-growth can be saved through restored road and trail access, mapping, thinning, weeding, and active management of competing vegetation -- which can all be accomplished at a profit to US taxpayers and Lane County if projects are designed with that objective. 

Conversely, it is unlikely that existing "monoculture" stands of plantations can be developed into old-growth for a wide number of reasons, mostly related to vulnerable locations, excessive stem counts, and loss of landscape diversity.

If we are to restore old-growth and related native biodiversity to our lands for future generations, then detailed research is needed and a commitment to restoration must be made. 

All dead trees should be sold and salvaged ASAP wherever profitable. Local decisions as to whether to leave remaining snags as “habitat” or sufficiently safe to leave in place until a later date would be situational.

Named creeks and remaining pre-statehood trees in excess of 160 years of age should be mapped and maintained ASAP. Older-growth trees, stands, and groves that remain should be given top priority for removing ladder fuels, threatening ground fuels, and competing vegetation — hopefully at a profit — as a top priority.

Industrial plantations should be used as intended -- for jobs and products for American families -- and then transformed into early historical conditions and future old-growth for future generations through planting, seeding, prescribed burning, weeding, and regular maintenance. Again, this process can be done at a profit to US taxpayers and Lane County if properly designed.

The net result of these actions would be hundreds of full-time jobs for decades, millions of dollars in tax revenues for our schools and roads, a great reduction in deadly wildfire risks, and a great increase in landscape access, native plant and animal biodiversity, beauty, and safety.

[For more detailed descriptions of these histories and recommendations, including links to relevant government documents and to related books, articles, editorials, and videos by Dr. Zybach, please go to: www.NWMapsCo.com/ZybachforLane/Platform/Old-Growth.html