Steve Wilent

1 month ago | treefrogcreative.ca | Steve Wilent |Kelly McCloskey |Robert McKellar |Susannah Banks

Oregon’s New Defensible-Space Standards Don’t Apply to Every Property, But They Should By Steve Wilent The Woodsman’s Take March 27, 2025 Category: Forestry Region: United States, US West The State of Oregon’s Wildfire Risk Explorer map was finalized in January, along with new defensible-space standards.

Feb 3, 2025 | mountaintimesoregon.com | Steve Wilent

By Steve Wilent, The Mountain TimesIt’s painful to see that so many homes and businesses were burned by wildfires in the Los Angeles area in January. People killed — 27, so far — and injured. Lives, businesses, and livelihoods ruined or disrupted. But LA is far away and is so very different from our relatively remote mountain homes. What happened in LA couldn’t happen here, right? Wrong.

Dec 2, 2024 | mountaintimesoregon.com | Steve Wilent

By Steve Wilent, The Mountain TimesIn my efforts to boost my karma so that I am reincarnated as being superior to my current imperfect self, I try to do some good in the world. Among other things, I pick up at least three pieces of trash each day, when I can, whether it’s in a parking lot, by the side of a road, along a forest trail, or anywhere else I find trash. Which is almost everywhere. Three pieces certainly doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things, but I reckon it can’t hurt.

Aug 12, 2024 | forestnet.com | Steve Wilent

TWAIN HARTE, California – Reducing fuels in overcrowded forests in the Sierra Nevada region of California is crucial for forest health and their very survival. High Sierra Timber Management plays a big role in that effort by masticating small trees and brush, sending logs from sick and dying trees to sawmills, and chipping trees too small for making lumber. The company supplies much of the chips to power plants for biomass fuel to produce electricity.

Jul 13, 2024 | rv-times.com | Steve Wilent

An article published in May 2024 by Jefferson Public Radio in southwest Oregon paints a distressing picture of forests around Ashland. In “Douglas fir die-off in Southern Oregon gives a glimpse into the future of West Coast forests,” JPR’s Erik Neumann quotes Ashland Fire and Rescue's Chris Chambers, who said that, “In areas of this forest, anywhere from 20–80% of the fir trees are dead. Experts are calling it a decline spiral.